Lambeth Council and EDAROTH — a subsidiary of design, engineering and project management consultancy Atkins — have officially unveiled a new housing development which promises to provide a blueprint for the future delivery of social housing across the UK.
The Hillside Gardens development in Streatham Hill comprises four family homes, which will provide high quality, affordable accommodation close to local amenities and transport links.
The project was delivered as a pilot scheme for EDAROTH’s MetroHome housing product, which is built using the latest offsite manufacturing techniques before being assembled onsite. This approach delivers new homes at speed, volume and at a significantly reduced cost compared to traditional new-builds, and also unlocks brownfield sites and underutilised land with constrained access.
The Hillside Gardens development — which is situated at the rear of existing council-owned properties on the Hillside Gardens Estate — was previously occupied by a derelict garage block but now adds four new homes to Lambeth Council’s housing stock which will be rented at council level rents.
Cllr Matthew Bennett, Cabinet Member for Planning, Investment and New Homes, said: “Lambeth Council is committed to delivering a new generation of social housing in the borough, to tackle Lambeth’s housing crisis and support the thousands of families on our waiting list.
“I’m delighted to see the completion of this latest project which contributes to meeting that goal. The Hillside Gardens development demonstrates how, despite restrictions in funding, restrictions on council borrowing and challenges in the development market, the council is finding ways to provide much needed new family homes at council level rents.”
Mark Powell, EDAROTH Managing Director, commented: “Social housing is a long-standing national problem, which will not be solved without innovation and positive disruption.
“As such, the Hillside Gardens development represents an early milestone for EDAROTH as we look to work in partnership with public sector clients across the UK to unlock the latent social and economic value of under-utilised land.”
We’ll be covering the project in more detail in the magazine, be sure to check out the April issue of LABM.
