Over £111m funding has been allocated to Brent Council from the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, to support the building of over 700 new genuinely affordable homes in the borough.
This comes after the Mayor secured £3.46bn from the Government to fund thousands of council and other genuinely affordable homes for Londoners. Brent has been allocated one of the largest amounts out of all London boroughs.
Cllr Southwood, Brent’s Cabinet Member for Housing and Welfare Reform said, “There are over 1,400 families in Brent currently living in temporary accommodation and many more whose home is completely unsuitable.
“Over the past three years, Brent has been one of the most ambitious council home builders in London. We are already exceeding our target to build 1,000 new council homes by 2024, with 400 families set to move into a new home by the end of this year alone.
“This funding means we can do even more. It means we can provide over 700 additional council homes before 2028, and every new home we develop is a step in the right direction towards a fairer and more equal Brent.”
Seham Jama has recently moved from temporary accommodation into a new council home in South Kilburn and said it has “changed mine and my young daughter’s life considerably”. She added, “My daughter has her own room and the move has also impacted positively on my mental health. I am extremely happy.”
The council homes that will be ready to handover to new tenants by the end of the year as part of the current programme include:
- 153 homes at Gloucester and Durham, South Kilburn
- 149 homes at Anansi House and Knowles House, Harlesden
- 92 homes at Grand Union, Alperton
- 5 homes at Gloucester Close, Stonebridge
A number of other schemes are also in the development stage, including Kilburn Square, St Raphael’s Estate, Watling Gardens, Windmill Court and more.
The council is committed to ensuring that all new developments work for people who already live in the area. Extensive engagement is carried out with local communities as part of all schemes to understand existing residents’ priorities for their neighbourhood.
Building homes is just one of the ways the council is responding to the housing crisis. It is also working to make the best use of existing housing stock. From speeding up the turnaround of empty homes to incentivising residents to move to smaller homes if these better suit their needs. Doubling down on tenancy fraud is another key priority.
To learn more about Brent’s New Council Homes Programme, please email newcouncilhomes@brent.gov.uk.
