This morning (Wednesday, 23 January) Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and Deputy Mayor James Murray visited new council homes at Copley Hanwell W7.

They were shown 31 flats in Darlington Court by Councillor Peter Mason, cabinet member for housing planning and transformation.  These flats are the first new council homes completed in Ealing since the Mayor announced last October that he had awarded the borough a grant of nearly £100 million. The funding will contribute towards Ealing’s plans to build 1,138 genuinely affordable new homes – the most ambitious council homebuilding programme in London.

2,500 new homes for social let

Those 1,138 properties will account for a sizeable part of the council’s overall aim of creating 2,500 new genuinely affordable homes by March 2022. The remainder will be delivered through private developments in the borough.  All of the homes will be available as social rent, London Living Rent or London Affordable Rent tenures or as other affordable options like shared ownership.

Phase six of development at Copley Hanwell W7 will get under way in summer 2019. Copley Central, as it will be known, will include 201 new homes with a mix of tenures and is likely to be finished by early 2022.

Consulting local people

James Murray then visited the High Lane estate in Hanwell, where he met local residents and found out more about the ballot recently held there. The ballot, in which 90% of eligible residents voted in favour of the council’s plans to regenerate the estate, was the first that the council has run since it committed last year to consulting local people before the regeneration of their estates goes ahead.

Councillor Julian Bell is the leader of Ealing Council and lead member for regeneration. He said: “It’s great that the Mayor saw the hard work that is taking place in Ealing to provide genuinely affordable homes that are also built to the highest standards.  These award-winning homes set the bar for what we are trying to achieve – affordable, well-designed modern homes where people would want to live.

“There are more than £5billion of developments under way in Ealing, including £1.5billion on housing projects that the council is involved in. Once Crossrail opens next year, our borough will have Zone 1 travel times with Zone 4 living standards, which will further increase demand for housing here, so it’s more important than ever that we ramp up affordable housebuilding in Ealing.”

Biggest council homebuilder in London

Councillor Peter Mason is Ealing Council’s lead member for housing, planning and transformation. He said: “Ealing’s council homebuilding plans are the biggest in London, reflecting the growing demand for safe, fit for purpose homes that are within our residents’ means. The work we’re doing will ensure that more people will be able to access the homes they need to thrive, but it’s vital that we work in partnership with our residents, rather than dictating to them.

“Our estates and homes wouldn’t be anything without the people and families who live in them. Rather than telling residents what they want, we’ve put them at the heart of our decision-making process.”

Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, said: “I’m really pleased to visit Ealing – a fantastic council which is building homes for their residents. What we saw today demonstrates that with the right leadership, it is possible to build the genuinely affordable homes that local people so desperately need. This is a great example of a council working with its residents in order to build the type and quality of housing they want. I was delighted to hand Ealing residents the keys to their new homes today.”

Tackling London’s housing crisis

James Murray, deputy mayor and member for housing and residential development, said: “New council housing has a central role to play in tackling London’s housing crisis, and so we were very pleased to come to Ealing today to see first-hand some of the work they are doing to create more genuinely affordable homes. The Mayor’s dedicated council homebuilding programme is supporting Ealing to build over a thousand homes for social rent, which is great news for people in Ealing and shows what a difference councils can make.”