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Cllr Terry Stacy
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Homes bonanza for first time in 25 years
Town Hall scours borough for site of affordable estate
UP to 1,000 new council homes will soon be built in Islington – the first in London in more than 25 years, the Tribune can reveal.
The decision to press ahead with a “pilot new build” scheme will be approved by the Town Hall’s decision-making executive on Tuesday night and has the full backing of Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London.
But the new programme of building works will happen only if Homes for Islington (HfI), the company that runs the borough’s housing stock, secures a crucial extra star rating following an inspection by the Audit Commission.
Tens of millions of pounds will also be secured to fund the project once the council disposes of a large property portfolio of buildings it rents to mainly commercial tenants.
Already teams of council planners and senior bosses at have been scouring Islington to look for possible sites. Disused council buildings will be pulled down or converted to make room for some of the new homes.
Councillor Terry Stacy, Islington’s housing chief, said the Town Hall “will not repeat the same awful mistakes” over quality and location that happened under previous Labour administrations.
The 1960s-era Packington Estate in Angel, for example, is set to pulled down after surveyors found it was built dangerously high and prone to gas leaks.
It is understood the new multi-million pound scheme will create up to 1,000 new homes to alleviate the borough’s housing crisis.
Councillor Stacy said: “Officers have looked at sites across the borough and once we have the final selection we will be able to whittle them down.”
He added: “The Liberal Democrats have had a long-held commitment to council housing but still the government has refused to allow us to build them for some considerable time. Now the council has decided to go it alone.”
Although Cllr Stacy would not be drawn on which sites are being looked at, it is understood that redundant garages and “making the best use of council buildings” are being considered.
He said that by the end of 2008 the first council-built homes in 25 years will be ready for homeless families to move in to.
Nearly 5,818 families are on Islington Council’s waiting list to move into a three or four bedroom home.
A further 3,000 are living in cramped one and two-bedroom homes meant for single people and couples.
Cllr Stacy said: “Islington is a very small borough with a high demand for council housing.
“We do not believe in massive, high-density developments and will not repeat the same awful mistakes as our Labour predecessors with the design, layout and location.”
Housing planners will present their draft report to the council’s executive on Tuesday, which is recommended for approval.
Although the council is determined to press ahead with the works, Cllr Stacy said housing associations are still being welcomed to the borough to provide new homes.
Lib Dem councillor Kelly Peasnell lives in the last-ever council house built in Islington, in Pine Street, Finsbury, which was completed in 1982.
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