Agenda item

This report sought approval to incorporate two sites, Brunswick Road Car Park and Hale Road, into the Council House Delivery Programme. Hale Road consisted of a row of terraced houses, where the council owned 7 of the 11 properties. Three of these homes were occupied and used as temporary accommodation, while the remaining four were managed by the Voids Team. Plans proposed the construction of 6-10 social rented homes on the Brunswick Road Car Park site and 30-60 new homes on the Hale Road site.

Both sites were located on council-owned land, as detailed in Appendix 1. Brunswick Road Car Park, held in the General Fund portfolio within the Seven Sisters Ward, was proposed for appropriation—initially for planning purposes and later for housing use—requiring a future Cabinet approval at Gateway 3. Hale Road, situated in the Tottenham Hale Ward, was already part of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) portfolio.

If deemed suitable for housing delivery, designs were to be developed and submitted to the Local Planning Authority (LPA) for approval. The council also planned to conduct consultation and engagement with local residents and ward members. A Statement of Community Involvement would accompany the final planning submissions.

It was queried if the site was owner occupied. In response to the query the Officer stated they would get the relevant information and get back to Cabinet Member promptly.

RESOLVED

It was recommended that the Cabinet Member:

3.1.1. Approves the addition of the Brunswick Road Car Park and Hale Road sites, to the Council’s Housing Delivery Programme

3.1.2. Approves S105 Consultations to be carried out, and the results of that consultation be brought back to Cabinet for decision prior to entering into any build contract.

3.1.3. Notes that approval of pre-contract budgets would be within the delegated authority of the Director of Placemaking and Housing. The Pre-Contract Budget would include all costs to take the project up to the award of a construction contract at Gateway 3.

4. Reasons for decisions

4.1. Delivering a new generation of genuinely affordable council homes is an important corporate priority for Haringey Council. The Borough has committed to an ambitious council home building programme that will deliver 3,000 new homes by 2031. This is in direct response to the national housing crisis which has left thousands of households in Haringey in need of a genuinely affordable home.

4.2.The council is already making great strides towards this target: as of December 2024, 696 council homes have been completed as part of this ambitious programme, with around two thirds of these new homes welcoming tenants and their families during the current calendar year. This new housing is changing the lives of our residents, providing households with an affordable, warm and secure new homes in their community.

4.3.In addition, our needs-led programme is providing further additional benefits to the Borough’s vulnerable residents and the wider community. Around 200 will be “bespoke homes” that are co-designed with tenants with mobility or other welfare needs: these homes will include adaptations designed to support tenants in their daily lives, for example through the installation of movable kitchen surfaces or specially designed bathrooms. To help tackle the climate change emergency, our homes are being built to high sustainability standards, including green roofs, air source heat pumps, PV solar panels and electric vehicle charging points. Wildlife planting, new trees and green landscaping are included as part of our housing schemes. As part of our placemaking agenda, the programme has delivered additional infrastructure benefits to the surrounding, existing community, including a new GP health centre, playgrounds for local children, new walkways and public bridges, and commercial spaces for local businesses.

4.4.This track record of delivery represents an outstanding achievement for Haringey Council given the difficult economic climate for the construction industry in the past few years.

4.5.The addition of the two sites outlined in section 1, will provide an opportunity for the Borough to continue its progress towards its 3,000 new homes target, and provide much needed affordable housing to residents on our housing waiting list. It will also allow the Council to explore the provision of more bespoke homes to some of our most vulnerable residents, as well as investigate potential community wide improvements that will benefit existing as well as any new households who may move into the new homes, should they be built.

5. Alternative options considered

5.1. The council has no statutory duty to develop these sites. However, one of the council’s top priorities is the delivery of a new era of council housebuilding. To exclude them from the development programme would undermine the council’s capacity to deliver new council homes.