London borough building a third of England's new council homes
Work has started on 720 new council homes in Southwark
One of England's most crowded boroughs is building a third of England's new council homes.
Thats according to new stats, which has found works started on 726 council homes in Southwark, out of the 2,234 under construction in England.
It means a thirds of all council homes last year are in Southwark, which is the seventh most densely populated area in England.
The Council are hoping to help house the more than 17,000 people currently waiting for a council home in the borough.
Southwark Council claims it has the most ambitious council house building programme of anywhere in Britain, according to its website. Labour, which controls the council, promised to build 11,000 new council homes by 2043 in the run-up to the 2014 local elections.
But a council report from February cast doubt on whether this would be possible. The document said the council didn’t have enough money to build 11,000 homes by 2043 and blamed the apparent sidestepping of the pledge on surging construction costs and the rising cost of borrowing. The 11,000 pledge remains on the council’s website.
Building more council homes also doesn’t mean the number of council properties in Southwark is increasing. Government figures show there were 1,346 fewer council homes in the borough as of 2022 than in 2014 when the 11,000 pledge was made.
Right to buy, a government policy that allows council tenants to purchase their property, as well as council homes being knocked down as part of estate regeneration programmes in the borough has resulted in a net loss of homes.
Jordan McLaughlin, 24, moved into one of 10 newly built council homes on Welsford Street in Bermondsey last year. Mr McLaughlin, his mother and sister had previously been sharing a cramped two-bedroom council flat around the corner and needed somewhere bigger.
He said: “We’re just really happy as a family that these new builds came to fruition. It makes life a lot more comfortable. We needed the space. This place has four bedrooms and two bathrooms. It’s perfect for us.
“It has made our family life easier; we aren’t on top of each other. We aren’t arguing about space. We have separate bathrooms to get ready and there’s enough space in the kitchen so that we can do what we need to do.”
He added: “Every single part of this house is an improvement. The only thing we don’t have which we did at the old place is parking. I’m having to use visitor permits at the moment.”