Hundreds of new homes will be built by a council to transform brownfield land.

Medway Council has been awarded almost £4 million in government funding to pave the way for multiple residential developments across the Towns.

It will receive £1.7m for the redevelopment of the landmark Strood Civic Site to create 171 new houses.

Strood Waterfront, which was home to an historic industrial factory and in later years the council’s civic headquarters, has laid dormant for several years.

Following the demolition of the previous building, flood defences have already been installed and the funding will be used for enabling works.

The council will also get £730,000 to transform part of the former Debenhams building in Chatham High Street into homes.

The department store closed in January 2020 and was bought by the authority last June for £2.2m using a grant from the government’s Future High Streets Fund.

The government has also awarded the unitary authority £940,238 to deliver 164 homes at Mountbatten House, in Chatham, which will be used specifically for concrete repairs, structural works, construction access route works, utility diversions and some demolition works.

It is expected to go out to tender by the end of this year.

The landmark, which sits above Chatham’s Pentagon centre, has been empty since 2006 when pensions and insurance giant Scottish Widows moved out.

The building was bought by the council in 2021 for just under £2m with the intention of converting it into homes – there was also a suggestion of a rooftop champagne bar.

Medway Council will also be using some of the funding to create 37 affordable homes – £363,137 will be put towards demolition works and building of 19 homes at Lennox Wood, Petham Green, Twydall, and £234,996 for another 18 at Aburound House, in Woodlands Road, Gillingham.

Plans for Lennox Wood were submitted in 2022 to develop the land a care home, which burnt down in an arson attack, once stood, into a mix of two- and three-bedroom homes, with one four-bedroom and one six-bedroom property.

Portfolio holder for housing and property, Cllr Naushabah Khan, said: “We are delighted that we will be receiving almost £4m of government funding to unlock these important sites and build a range of much-needed new homes.

“This adds to a string of successful Medway bids for central government funding and is testament to the council’s reputation for ambition and delivery.

“I am particularly pleased that we will be building two developments which will be completely affordable.

“We are committed to sustainable development in Medway and I look forward to watching these exciting developments progress.”

The council worked with Medway Development Company on the bids and say more information about the works will be announced soon.

Across the country, nearly 100 regeneration projects will receive £60m from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with Medway receiving one of the largest shares – £3,968,371.