Southwark to buy site in Canada Water development

Southwark Council has agreed to buy a site in the Canada Water regeneration project from British Land for affordable housing.

The site will be used to build 79 new affordable homes, including 60 homes for council rent and 39 three-bedroom family homes.

The development will also be fully electric featuring air source heat pumps to achieve Southwark Council’s carbon reduction targets.

The site, adjacent to Roberts Close, is conveniently located beside the Russia Dock Woodland and a few minutes’ walk away from Canada Water station.

The new homes will be built by British Land on behalf of the council, with detailed planning permission already in place for the development.

The Roberts Close development will form part of Southwark council’s new homes programme, which aims to build 11,000 new council homes across the borough by 2042, with 2,500 of these started on site or delivered by 2022.

‘I’m delighted that we are acquiring this site and the brand new affordable housing set to be built here,’ said the London borough’s cabinet member for housing, Cllr Leo Pollack.

‘These are beautifully designed, high-quality affordable homes in a prized location.

‘I’m also pleased to see that there will be three-bedroom homes available for local families who are overcrowded or close to being priced out of the area. These new homes will likely rehouse over 300 people into the secure, spacious, energy efficient and genuinely affordable housing that they need.’

The purchase has been exercised as part of Southwark Council’s partnership with British Land on the Canada Water masterplan, which was agreed in March 2018 to regenerate and improve the Canada Water area.

The plan will see the delivery of new public spaces including a park, town square, offices, a new leisure centre and improvements to local transport.

Emma Cariaga, joint head of Canada Water at British Land, said: ‘We are delighted that Southwark Council’s Cabinet has resolved to acquire this site to build 79 council homes, which is testament to our strong working partnership At Canada Water.

‘This represents the first step in British Land’s delivery of around 3,000 homes across the Canada Water masterplan, of which a minimum of 35% will be affordable, with 70% of these available at social rent. These homes will be delivered alongside new public spaces including a park and town square, offices, a new leisure centre, improvements to local transport and much more besides.’

Photo Credit – Geralt (Pixabay)