An empty site in Nottinghamshire where a care home previously operated is set to transform into a significant affordable housing development as part of strategies to address the housing register backlog. Ashfield District Council submitted its own scheme in September 2025 for building 20 homes on the former Kirklands Residential Care Home and Day Care Centre site. The care facility, situated off Fairhaven in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, shut down in 2016 and the buildings fell into disrepair before eventually being demolished in 2020. The land has remained unused since then. Following official project approval in April, the council is proceeding with construction, with the scheme named Kirkland Gardens. The proposal includes four three-bedroom houses, six two-bedroom houses and two two-bedroom bungalows. In addition, the council-owned project comprises eight flats, including four with one bedroom and four with two bedrooms. Every unit will form part of the district council’s housing stock and be offered to those on the housing register. In 2023, the council pledged to build more than 200 new homes across a four-year period, with these 20 extra properties joining the 16 dwellings at Adrian Sheldon View and the almost-complete 40 residences at Hardwick Lane in Sutton. According to the council’s Housing Annual Report for 2024 to 2025, it managed 6,593 council-owned homes with 4,438 people on its waiting list, a rise from 4,395 the previous year. Planning documents indicated that the scheme would make a significant contribution to affordable housing in Kirkby-in-Ashfield and the wider Ashfield area, helping address the shortage of affordable homes in the district. Access to the properties will be from Fairhaven and Central Avenue, with a new road from Fairhaven serving five of the houses and all eight flats.