A development of 56 new homes at 1 Creekside in Deptford will be boosting Lewisham’s affordable housing provision after being acquired by Lewisham Homes on behalf of the council. In a first for the borough, the council has purchased the land with existing planning permission for a block of flats plus commercial space, with a developer already on board. It is scheduled for completion in summer 2022.
The block’s original planning permission stipulated 36% affordable housing through a mix of rent and shared ownership. It will now be 100% affordable, offering 22 homes at social rent (an increase of 50% from the planning target) and 34 on a shared ownership basis (an increase of 74%).
Our development department will work with CField Construction and IPE Developments to complete the project, which will offer a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom flats within a warehouse style development, plus commercial space at street level. The development is being funded by the London Borough of Lewisham and the Greater London Authority.
A first for the borough
Lewisham Council has previously purchased properties in the borough, including through buyback of Right to Buy homes, as well as instigating new developments on council-owned land as part of its social home programme, Building for Lewisham. However, this is the first time it has acquired a development with existing planning permission, and it is a model it hopes to pursue further as a way quickly boosting the availability of affordable housing in the borough.
Damien Egan, Mayor of Lewisham, said: ‘Taking a housing development with 35% affordable housing and making it 100% overnight is a major achievement for Lewisham Council, and I would like to thank our housing and planning teams for all their hard work. Our Building for Lewisham programme offers a model we hope to roll out again elsewhere in Lewisham. We have been ambitious with our plans to build genuinely affordable, high-quality social housing – we know this will need us to explore different ways of delivering new social homes and we will work with a variety of partners to deliver them.
‘Alongside building new homes, identifying existing developments in progress and acquiring them gives us a real “quick win” to get families who desperately need them into new Council homes.’
Ainsley Forbes, Lewisham Homes’ board chair, said: ‘We are excited to have secured this opportunity for new desperately needed council homes and we are keen to explore other Lewisham opportunities. The New Initiatives Development team here at Lewisham Homes is keen to talk to developers who deliver homes to the quality that we and Lewisham Council require.’
No. 1 Creekside
Ranging in height from four to eight stories, the warehouse style development at 1 Creekside has been designed by Metropolitan Workshop to respond to Deptford’s historic character. The site is currently occupied by a light industrial building and a dilapidated terraced house.
The flats will be arranged to maximise dual-aspect homes, and ensure that there are no single aspect north facing homes. Balconies will be placed on corners where possible to provide dual aspect.
There will be a minimum of 1,200sqm of flexible workspace at street level, around a working yard space. The new commercial space along Deptford Church Street will be heavily glazed to animate and enliven the street, while providing an outward-facing frontage to Creekside. The building line will be back away from the existing boundary to create a more hospitable public realm and allow for street furniture, cycle racks and planting.
For further information please contact: newinitiatives@lewishamhomes.org.uk
Images credit: Metropolitan Workshop