The project to provide new housing at the “Fenwick South” development was among 79 schemes that will share £45m from the Land Release Fund (LRF), which is designed to support house-building on public land.
The scheme will see Transport for London (TfL) and Lambeth Council providing new affordable housing on land at the southern edge of the Fenwick Estate, in Clapham.
TfL is currently planning to begin clearing the site for Fenwick South this April 2018. The target date for the completion of the new homes is autumn 2020.
The development dovetails with the council’s wider plans for Fenwick, which has been included in the estate regeneration programme. In July 2016, Lambeth’s cabinet agreed a scheme to rebuild the Fenwick estate.
Word from the Cabinet
Cllr Paul McGlone, Deputy Leader of the Council (Investment and Partnerships), said the successful bid to the LRF would boost the wider strategy to provide more and better homes across Lambeth.
He said: “We have pledged to tackle Lambeth’s housing crisis head-on, by increasing the number of high-quality homes available for everyone in the borough, including the people living in overcrowded or temporary accommodation, or those on our housing waiting list.
“This welcome funding will help us provide some of those homes, as quickly as possible, on the Fenwick South site. But it is just the beginning; we have plans to provide hundreds more homes across our estate regeneration programme, and we will be pressing ahead with these over the coming weeks and months.”
High-quality housing for the community
Housing and Planning Minister Dominic Raab welcomed “the ambition shown by [the] London Borough of Lambeth” through its bid to the LRF.
Local ward councillor Andy Wilson said: “I’m delighted that TfL and Lambeth have been awarded this funding, which will ensure that this development of more, high-quality housing for the community can proceed at Fenwick South.”
The nationwide LRF-backed projects, which aim to support building strong communities, include a range of works such as asbestos removal and bat alleviation, as well as schemes that will “significantly improve quality of life”.
The fund is being administered through a partnership with the Local Government Association and Cabinet Office’s One Public Estate (OPE) programme, which provides councils with funding and access to practical support to deliver property-based projects with wider public sector partners.
The LRF was oversubscribed, with more than £100 million received in funding requests for 143 projects. A total of 79 bids were successful in the assessment process, which will see £45 million being awarded to 41 authorities.
Better homes
As a council, we are committed to building 1000 new homes at council level rent for families on our waiting list. These homes will be built to a high standard, fit for the present day, with rigorous energy efficiency standards and built to be easily adapted to residents’ changing circumstances.
Not only are we committed to building new, better homes, but we have also invested £490m in our existing council stock to bring them up to the Lambeth Housing Standard. This will ensure that our residents will be able to enjoy a warm, dry home with new kitchens, bathrooms and windows.
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