Work to convert a huge former Saga office building into homes is set to begin this year - despite concerns over bosses’ finances.

Property developer Oliver Davis says he is "excited" to start construction at the Cheriton Parc site on the outskirts of Folkestone, which he is to turn into 86 homes.

But concerns over cashflow were aired at a meeting of Folkestone and Hythe District Council’s (FHDC) planning committee on Wednesday night, where the proposal was almost unanimously approved.

Mr Davis stresses the scheme is “well funded” - despite Mulberry Tree Holdings Ltd, which trades under the Oliver Davis Homes name, being put into liquidation on January 19.

At Wednesday’s meeting, a FHDC planning officer said “concerns have been raised with regards to the financial set up of the company”, but stated that is “not a material planning consideration”.

Although Oliver Davis Homes is listed in planning documents submitted to FHDC, the developer states it is not connected to the Cheriton proposal, which was submitted by MTH Cheriton Parc Ltd, another of Mr Davis's companies.

“Oliver Davis Homes was just a construction arm of the business that was delivering a scheme in Maidstone,” Mr Davis told KentOnline.

“We have a large group of companies and each run independently of each other.

“The company buying the site - which is MTH Cheriton Parc Ltd - is a joint venture between ourselves and our investors; we are well funded and looking to commence work on site later this year.

“We are excited to bring the site forward and deliver much-needed housing to the Folkestone and Hythe area.”

Mr Davis, who is behind a number of developments in Kent, says he hopes to start work in the autumn and construction is expected to take two years.

Award-winning architect Hollaway has drawn up the plans for the site, which became redundant after the pandemic as Saga drastically reduced its office space.

The four-storey office building is set to be converted into 31 flats under the scheme, with 36 houses and a block of 19 flats built on the car park.

While some members of the planning committee described the scheme as “excellent”, others argued the area is already “overdeveloped”.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr Hollaway said: “This project started quite a while ago as a result of the pandemic, when Saga like many companies started working from home.”

As the site was therefore “surplus to requirements”, the over-50s travel and insurance giant marketed the building for 18 months, but there were no takers, Mr Hollaway explained.

“So we set about working with Saga to look at alternative uses and residential seemed to be the most appropriate,” he added.

“Rather than demolishing a perfectly good building, the best thing sustainably is to try and reuse that existing building to do something really sensitive.”

Cllr Jenny Hollingsbee (Con) backed the bid at the meeting, saying: “I’m really quite pleased to see this come forward – it’s a site that hasn’t done much for a number of years and I think it’s an excellent scheme.”

The development is set to include FHDC’s required level of 22% affordable housing - or 19 properties.

Under initial plans, the block of 19 flats was intended to all be affordable, but Cllr Hollingsbee raised concerns - saying the authority usually prefers affordable homes to be dotted throughout sites.

However, a council officer explained: “They would be pepper-potted throughout the development and would be unlikely to be all in one block as was initially proposed.”

The councillor for Cheriton, Cllr Mike Blakemore (Green), also praised the scheme.

He said: “Reusing buildings is definitely to be welcomed – turning office blocks into housing not always so – but this does seem to be a very high-quality development and that’s to be welcomed.”

Cllr Paul Thomas (Ind) echoed similar sentiments, adding: “I support this application, I think it's an excellent use of the land available and excellent use of the building.”

Three residents had written to FHDC with concerns over the application, including Luke Stephens who feared "the current infrastructure isn't able to cope".

Vice-chairman of the planning committee, Cllr Nicola Keen (Lab), raised similar worries over the potential impact on the road network.

“I'm rather concerned about the build-up of traffic in that area - morning, noon and night,” she said.

“I use that road quite a lot, and I can’t think of a time where I've actually just driven down there.

“I think we’ve overdeveloped that area, it’s getting a bit dangerous.

“I can’t believe we’re going to put more houses in it just to make it a little bit more difficult to move around the area.

“There’s one way in really and two ways out that both get really clogged up.”

Kent County Council’s highways department also objected to the scheme, describing the access roads as “too narrow” and the number of visitor spaces “unacceptable”.

The project is set to feature 141 parking spaces – 21 of which would be for visitors.

But a FHDC planning officer said: “The proposal is essentially 10 parking spaces short, that’s only because of the tandem parking that’s being proposed on site [parking spaces for two cars, but which block in the first one to park].

"When you look at the development as a whole there’s ample parking spaces.”

The planning committee voted to back the plans with 10 votes in favour and one against.

The Cheriton Parc office building will now be turned into a mix of one and two-bed flats, while the 36 homes planned for the car park will be split between 20 three-bedroom two-storey homes and 16 four-bed three-storey townhouses.

Elsewhere in Kent, Mr Davis is set to turn Ashford’s former H.S Pledge and Sons mill into 53 flats.

Plans for the site in East Hill, which previously housed Liquid nightclub, were approved in 2022, but work is yet to begin.

Mr Davis, whose MTH Flour Mills Ltd company owns the site, says the project “is held up by the Stodmarsh lake issue, hence why it has not started”.

“If a mitigation scheme is available we would love to hear about it. As soon as we have a solution we will be starting,” he added.

Problems with nutrient neutrality levels in and around the Stodmarsh Nature Reserve near Canterbury have delayed huge numbers of houses being built across east Kent.