Plans unveiled to turn Kingston Prison into housing

City and Country, the owners of HMP Kingston Prison on St. Mary’s Road in Milton, have unveiled plans for a 270-home development on the site of the former prison.

Portsmouth residents were welcomed along to the Victorian site to see the plans which, if social housing had to be encompassed, would see the number of homes rise from 270 to 380.

This would call for blocks of flats to be built at 14 storeys rather than seven.

The consultation held this week was the third at the site since the Ministry of Justice sold the prison in 2014, following its cost-cutting closure in 2013.

Included in the plans are two entrances into the site, plus a central garden area intersected with pathways.

The outer wall of the site, plus the front entrance and four of the wings, are listed, and cannot be altered or demolished.

Previous consultations showed that the public were most in favour of the site being turned into a museum, with 28% of participants voting for this idea, whilst 21% voted that the former prison should be transformed into housing.

City and Country are looking to submit a planning application to Portsmouth City Council this December.