Elderly residents face the “barbaric and inhumane” upheaval of being moved out of their retirement complex and into temporary accommodation for two years.

The 34 properties at Monypenny in Rolvenden, near Ashford, are to be knocked down and rebuilt with the addition of affordable homes.

Council bosses say replacing the “outdated” site, built in 1974, with bigger and better accommodation will help cut down its social housing waiting list.

But the current tenants of Monypenny - many of whom are disabled, frail or recovering from serious illness - are worried about being “scattered” to various parts of the borough in the meantime.

They are upset that this will break up their close community at the complex, which has its own social club, weekly coffee mornings, outings, fish and chip nights and parties with entertainment in the communal lounge.

One of the oldest residents, Joy Fenwick, 91, told KentOnline: “I want to stay here with everybody around me because we get on well, we’ve made our friends and have support.

“I’ve got a son of 60 in the village who has had cancer and has been left with terrible side effects. I want to be near him.”

Widower Ian Robinson, 70, who has also battled cancer, said: “This is about scattering us all over the place.

“You're away from all the people you know. Nobody knows where we're going to end up.

“We’re losing our friends. We all help each other out and all that will be gone.”

Graham and Julie Tiltman, aged 77 and 74, are the only married couple at Monypenny and have lived there for 13 years. They are also cancer survivors.

Mr Tiltman said: “To put elderly and frail residents through this process is frankly inhumane. This will be years of uncertainty and disruption.

“Some will ultimately not survive due to the pressures imposed on them by this totally impractical proposal.”

Mr Tiltman was born in Rolvenden and says many other residents also have long-term connections with the village.

He added: “It is barbaric to even suggest that loyal and vulnerable elderly residents will be forced to leave their connections.”

Monypenny is an independent living scheme for the over-60s now run by Ashford Borough Council (ABC) with 25 sheltered flats and eight bungalows, housing about 35 people.

Most are single and have little or no family.

The residents say they have felt unsettled since the plans were originally put forward two years ago.

ABC officials revisited them with updated proposals on May 7.

This involves demolishing the current complex and a nearby former vicarage and creating 41 affordable housing units.

These will consist of 23 one- and two-bed flats for the elderly. In addition, there would be 12 one-bed flats and six two-bed terraced houses for general needs. This means the inclusion of younger people.

Planning permission is hoped to be given by the end of the year. Work on the site would begin in autumn 2026, with the aim of being completed by spring 2028.

The tenants would then have a choice of staying where they moved to or getting first refusal to come back to Monypenny.

But the residents say the site should be left alone and the affordable housing should be placed on land elsewhere in the borough.

Alternatively, they argue, the development should be done using spare land within the area or the existing buildings should simply be fully refurbished.

But ABC says the housing needs of Rolvenden have changed and there is now a need for more family accommodation in the village where there is “a real shortage of developable land”.

The council says the 1,856 local people on its waiting list are “desperate for a home they can call their own”.

Of these, 21 applicants have a local connection to Rolvenden, looking for a mix of one-, two- and three-bed homes.

A council spokesman told KentOnline that at the event on May 7, one resident said his son had not been able to find a home in the village and had moved to Tenterden, into expensive privately-rented accommodation.

“This is the kind of community need our development will address,” the spokesman said.

ABC says the new homes at Rolvenden will be built to an “accessible and adaptable” standard, suitable for a wide range of occupants, including older people, those with reduced mobility and wheelchair users.

The site will also feature renewable technologies such as air or ground source heat pumps, photovoltaic (PV) panels and underfloor heating.

The spokesman said the council is “exploring options to keep disruption to a minimum” for the current tenants and each will be spoken to individually “to understand their needs in terms of future accommodation”.

KentOnline previously revealed how the cost of placing people in temporary accommodation has soared across the county.

In the Ashford borough, between 2018 and 2023, the bill rocketed 169%, from £739,000 to almost £2 million.