Cromwood Housing has unveiled its first new social housing developments in London. The £5.2m scheme is delivering 14 homes in Hounslow, West London on former garage sites with six homes now ready and the remainder expected to be completed over the next few months.
Part-funded by grant from the Greater London Authority’s Affordable Homes Programme, they include houses, bungalows and flats on six plots of land in Brentford.
Cromwood acquired the garage sites from Hounslow Council through the local authority’s registered provider small sites programme, which is creating 200 affordable homes across 62 sites.
The scheme was launched at a celebration event including representatives from Hounslow Council, Greater London Authority, architects Balaam Murphy, builders Falcon Construction and quantity surveyors BTP Group.
It’s a landmark moment for Cromwood. While the majority of current stock has been acquired on the open market and is focused on former rough sleepers and domestic abuse survivors, the new homes will be general needs social housing with Hounslow Council holding full nomination rights. Tenants will be moving into the completed properties in the coming weeks.
Tom Copley, London’s Deputy Mayor for Housing & Residential Development, said: ‘These new homes, built in partnership between Cromwood and Hounslow Council and supported by City Hall, will provide much needed social housing, with innovative energy efficiency measures reducing bills for tenants.
‘By transforming underutilised small sites like this, we can deliver more of the sustainable, high-quality homes our communities need as we continue to build a better, fairer London for everyone.’
Moses Hirschler, Chief Executive at Cromwood, said: ‘We set out to raise the bar with our first social housing development both in terms of the quality of design and environmental standards and I’m proud of what we have achieved in Hounslow.
‘It also demonstrates the important role that smaller housing organisations can play in developing small sites in order to increase the supply of homes where they are needed most.’
Kevin Murphy, Strategic Director at Cromwood, said: ‘Developing homes on sites like these is challenging in many ways – from operating within the confines of small plots to ensuring properties are sensitive to the local area.
‘But by working closely with our partners we have been able to not only deliver much-needed new social housing at a high standard but have also improved neighbourhoods by removing old garages that were obsolete and had become an eyesore.
‘We’re filling a gap in the market as larger housing organisations are often not able to take on these projects at this scale. Given the housing pressures London is facing, it’s essential that we make the most of every piece of land available.’
All properties have been built to high environmental standards and include air source heat pumps and PV solar panels and other energy efficiency measures – reducing both environmental impact and energy bills for tenants.
Councillor Dan Bowring, Hounslow Council’s elected member for Syon and Brentford Lock, said: ‘What’s special about this project is the partnership between the council, Cromwood and the contractor and how that’s all come together for everyone’s desired outcomes. It’s an ongoing partnership that demonstrates what can be delivered and I’m excited by the prospect of delivering more homes for our residents.
‘It also proves there’s no reason why social housing shouldn’t be beautiful and built to a high standard. The outstanding environmental credentials of these homes are critical given that around a third of Hounslow’s carbon emissions come from the borough’s housing.
‘On a personal level, I’m proud that developments like this are helping to deliver our small sites programme and in doing so are building on the legacy of our late leader Steve Curran, who was passionate about regeneration and housing.’
