• Cabinet backs plans to demolish the unpopular Victoria Street block of flats in Stratford
• 122 new homes including 90 two-and three-bedroom homes will replace the 218 studio and one-bedroom flats
As part of Newham’s Council’s commitment to fight the acute housing crisis in the borough, Mayor Fiaz and her Cabinet have today approved the proposal to demolish and rebuild 10 Victoria Street to deliver more much-needed, larger, genuinely affordable homes with improved energy efficiency and cheaper utility bills for homeless households.
This decision is the initial stage and further steps will come before Cabinet in due course.
Councillor Shaban Mohammed, Cabinet Member for Housing Management and Modernisation, said: “We as a Council know these properties at Victoria Street are not to the standards that our residents deserve. But the brutal truth is that the housing market in Britain and particularly here in London is completely broken.
“Myself, the Mayor and our Housing teams have held regular meetings with the residents of Victoria Street, and their advocates, so we know the very real hardship living in unsuitable homes has brought.
“This proposal is a beginning of a solution and sits alongside the Council’s acquisitions policy and continued drive to build more truly affordable homes for our residents across the borough.”
Mayor of Newham Rokhsana Fiaz OBE said: “The properties at Victoria Street were never meant to be used for long term temporary accommodation purposes but unfortunately due to the ongoing scarcity of suitable properties in Newham, vulnerable residents who have become homeless have had to stay for much longer that we would have wanted.
“Faced with a worsening housing crisis, and the cost of living crisis that is pushing more and more of our residents to a position where they face a genuine risk of homelessness, we are determined to increase the supply of genuinely affordable homes for both our residents on our housing waiting list and those in temporary accommodation.
“This is why it was imperative that today we adopt the best option to redevelop the building to build well designed, modern and spacious homes including 90 additional family homes within improved outside space for children. I am truly sorry that we have not been able to re-home all the families currently in Victoria Street as soon as we would have liked to, but I hope this decision today offers some light at the end of tunnel. It also underlines my commitment to improve the housing market for families and the most vulnerable.
Cabinet heard that two solutions for the Victoria Street site were considered by independent experts: either demolish and rebuild or refurbish.
Measuring the two plans against each other, the report presented to Cabinet concludes that Option 1 – demolish and rebuild - is the best solution. Though more expensive, it will allow the provision of more purpose-built family-sized units, with better outside space for young families, and building specifications to improve both the environmental footprint of the development and the sustainability of the homes. The rebuild also delivers a property with a lifespan of 50 years, compared to the 20 years for the refurbishment option.
The development would include 47 much needed three-bedroom homes, 43 two-bedroom properties and 31 one-bedroom flats in the heart of Stratford. There are also a number of properties within the scheme designed for wheelchair users.
The homes will be offered to homeless families on an assured short-hold tenancy, similar to those in the private rented sector. It will be genuinely affordable for those on housing benefit as it’s been designed to be viable with rents in line with the London Housing Allowance.
Existing Victoria Street residents are being updated on the plans during face-to-face meetings with the Mayor, Cabinet Member, and Council housing officers. Efforts to re-house families out of the building are continuing.
Next steps will see planning permission sought for the development and it is planned that all remaining residents will be moved into alternative accommodation during 2024.
It’s envisaged that the rebuild will begin early 2025 and completed in early 2028.