A derelict former NHS site in New Malden could be turned into a seven-story block of affordable flats.

Roselands Clinic, sitting just off Kingston Road, was formerly used for mental health services. It is now being sold off for development, and a planning application has been submitted to the council.

The seven and four-storey buildings, proposed by Richmond Housing Partnership (RHP), would include 37 flats, which Kingston Council would allocate to people on its housing list.

All the homes would be rented at an “affordable” rate, i.e. below market value.

The existing buildings, thought to date from the 1940s, would be demolished.

The land is one of many disused sites being sold off by South West London and St. George’s Mental Health NHS Trust to pay for a major new hospital scheme.

The adjacent Rose Lodge, previously part of the same site, has already been sold separately by the NHS, and is currently used as a bed and breakfast, although it is understood the owner wants to develop on the land.

RHP was formed in 2000 when they took over Richmond Council’s housing stock.

It now owns about 8,500 homes, including more than 300 in Kingston.