Cash to get to grips with housing crisis in Greenwich and Lewisham

BY CALUM FRASER
calum@slpmedia.co.uk

Greenwich and Lewisham councils have received millions of pounds from City Hall to build homes for social rent. Lewisham received just under £38million and Greenwich received £32.6million from Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan’s £1billion housing pot.

Town hall chiefs in Greenwich have earmarked the cash to build 588 new council homes, while Lewisham council wants to build 384 social rent homes.

Greenwich cabinet member for housing, Councillor Chris Kirby, said: “Earlier this month we agreed to set ourselves an ambitious housing delivery programme which is one of our key priorities, and the Mayor’s £32million allocation will mean that we can step up our programme to build good quality homes for social rent, which we will start building by 2022.”

Lewisham councillor Paul Bell, cabinet member for housing, said: “This £37.7 million will go a long way to creating a Lewisham that can be home to everyone regardless of income or circumstance.

This is a key priority for us and I welcome today’s announcement. “Lewisham desperately needs more social housing.

This new funding will enable us to kick-start Lewisham’s commitment to deliver 1,000 new social homes for families who need a safe, secure environment to live in and fulfil their potential.”

Mayor Khan aims to build 11,000 homes with this fund. London Assembly member for Greenwich and Lewisham, Len Duvall said: “With too many local families priced out of the housing market and stuck in temporary accommodation, it has always been of the utmost priority that we get to grips with the housing crisis as a matter of urgency.

“The Government have sat on their hands when it comes to council homebuilding, which fell flat during the 1990s.

“However, we now have an opportunity with this funding to kick-start an ambitious new building programme and provide the next generation of homes for social rent that our community desperately needs.

This could be boosted further if the Government provides the extra £2 billion of funding needed per year to cover the full-scale of the demand for all the types of genuinely affordable housing in London.”