Mayor of Lewisham Damien Egan met tenants of new Council homes in Forest Hill today (Friday 11 October).
The 27 new council homes, at Longfield Crescent in the south of Lewisham Borough, includes two three-storey blocks consisting of fourteen one- and two-bedroom flats and thirteen three-bedroom family houses for social rent.
One of the residents who has moved into the new properties is Mohamed Hassan. Mohamed and his wife Khadija spent four years living in temporary accommodation across London with their two daughters and two sons, living in Enfield and East London among other locations. They now have a modern three bedroom house in the development. Mohamed described the impact of the new home: ‘It’s made quite a lot of difference. It helped us as a family, we’ve settled down here as for four years we’ve been going up and down to different places. To settle down in one place is quite big and I’m very happy – thanks to Lewisham Council.’
Another new resident is Julie. She previously lived in a three-bedroom property provided by housing association Housing for Women, but was able to downsize into a new one-bedroom flat at Longfield Crescent. Julie enjoys the privacy of her new flat, describing it as ‘My own little heaven.’
The new homes will be managed on Lewisham Council’s behalf by Lewisham Homes, the Council’s housing company. Delivering new social homes and helping families move out of temporary and emergency housing into a home of their own is a core part of Lewisham Homes’ mission.
The Mayor was accompanied on the visit by Cabinet Member for Housing Cllr Paul Bell, Chair of Lewisham Homes’ board, Ainsley Forbes, Chief Executive Margaret Dodwell, and Director of Development Lis Rodrigues, as well as Forest Hill Cllr Peter Bernards.
Damien Egan, Mayor of Lewisham said: ‘It was great to meet Mohamed and his family, and Julie, to see their new council homes. We’re delighted that Lewisham is building again, with the first new council homes in a generation. These 27 new homes in Forest Hill provide social rents at lifetime tenancies. We’re pressing on to build many more homes across Lewisham, so we can house more families on our housing waiting list.’
Ainsley Forbes, Chair of the Board at Lewisham Homes, said: ‘It’s great to see families who have been in temporary accommodation moved into high-quality, well-designed homes that are affordable to rent and energy efficient. It’s beautiful to see people being happy in their new homes, enjoying the benefits of good quality housing – and we plan to build more.’