The missed targets hit Newham’s most vulnerable, as the borough has the highest number of households in temporary accommodation in the country.

By Peter Landman and Aidan White

Visualisation of development in Beckton. ©Populo Living

In the days before Christmas hopes of providing more social housing in Newham suffered a double setback with agreement on two major development plans that fall well short of the Council’s pledge to deliver 50% affordable homes in new building projects.

Plans for a private development of 871 new homes in Canning Town have been given the green light by Newham Council, but none will be used as social housing.

And a second development, under the Council’s direct control through its development company Populo Living, for new homes in Pier Road in North Woolwich and Cyprus in Beckton will deliver 565 new homes, but only around 32% of them will be affordable, comfortably missing the Council’s 50% target.

Both these plans were given the go ahead on 18 December by the Council’s Strategic Development Committee.

The project at Pier Road, adjacent to Woolwich foot tunnel, includes 350 new homes of which 127 will be classified as affordable, and will provide new homes for at least 85 families on Newham’s housing waiting list. At Ferndale Road, close to Cyprus DLR Station, there will be 215 homes of which 54 will be genuinely affordable.

In total the number of affordable homes will be around 100 less than promised.

The Canning Town plans will lead to the construction of seven tower blocks ranging from eight to 30 storeys high as part of the private Crown Wharf redevelopment from Barratt London.

Of the 871 homes, 630 will be for the private sector while 241 ‘genuinely affordable’ homes will be split into 153 shared ownership and the final 88 will be at London affordable rent.

On 11 December at the full Council meeting councillors raised concerns about the commitment to providing at least 50 percent affordable homes in all new housing developments.

A resolution adopted at the meeting called for a rewrite of the local development plan and possible scrutiny of the financial model of the Council’s wholly-owned property developer Populo Living.

The promise of at least 50% affordable housing is a flagship policy aiming to make inroads into the Council housing waiting list which is one of the longest in the country. There are around 34,000 households on the waiting list, but only around 600 properties become available each year.

At a Council cabinet meeting on 5 December Populo admitted that they couldn’t meet the target at the North Woolwich and Beckton projects and said the plans had been hit by high national interest rates, and a rundown of working capital.

The joint motion that was agreed at the Council meeting called for a rewrite of the Local Plan, and for possible scrutiny of Populo’s financial model.

In the Council debate on housing, the Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz stressed that there were three major regeneration schemes underway in Newham and that the Council had borrowed £2 billion for housing development.

Meanwhile, Newham’s plans to move some of the Borough’s homeless families to towns around London are facing new problems.

Following reports two months ago that councillors in Chatham had objected to plans to buy space for Newham families in the Kent town, a new plan to buy a block of flats in Harlow that could house up to 500 homeless people has also run into local opposition.

A Harlow Council spokesperson said: “We are extremely disappointed that Newham Council are pursuing this proposal and that other councils continue to place their residents in temporary housing outside of the areas they live.”

Newham has the highest number of households in temporary accommodation in the country – 5,883 as at the beginning of April.

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