Glebe Way development in Bromley is going ‘totally social’

By Joe Coughlan, Local democracy Reporter

A housing block in Bromley will now have double the affordable housing than was originally intended after the local authority approved plans to make the project fully socially rented.

The project will see 26 new homes being built on the site on Glebe Way, after Bromley council agreed to increase the number of affordable flats for the scheme to 100 per cent.

The decision was unanimously approved by councillors at a meeting on July 15. Council documents said the delivery of the 26 flats was dependent on the authority receiving a revised grant from the Greater London Authority of £4.6 million, representing a £2.6m increase.

Labour councillor Chris Price said at the meeting: “We really appreciate this, we appreciate the funding and the drive from the Mayor of London for funding affordable housing, which really helped this happen so thank you.”

The approval came after the council’s executive committee recommended the changes at a meeting in March this year. Council officers said that at the time of the authority purchasing the project, it was deemed more viable to deliver 14 socially rented homes and offer 12 for private sale.

However, increased housing pressures had reportedly led officers to review the original plans as the authority’s housing team ‘desperately’ needed more homes due to rising temporary accommodation costs.

Conservative councillor Nicholas Bennett, representing the West Wickham ward, said there were approximately 1,600 homeless individuals in the borough seeking temporary accommodation from the council.

Council documents claimed temporary accommodation costs for Bromley Council had risen to nearly £10,000 a year per household.

It was reported that the change to fully socially rented homes for the West Wickham scheme would provide greater savings than the expected £4m that would have been obtained if 12 of the flats were privately sold.

The scheme is forecasted to save the authority at least £31,000 per year overall and will include an extension to the area’s existing library, along with a community space and café. Construction on the scheme began in March 2023.

The project as a whole is due to be completed in January next year, with tenants due to move in the following month.

Pictured top: A CGI of the new library and cafe as seen from Glebe Way (Picture: Brimelow McSweeney Architects / Bromley council)