Home sweet home. Sofia Ali (right) will be moving into her new home together with her children by the end of the month. Also pictured is Cllr Lisa Homan, H&F Cabinet Member for Housing (left)
Hammersmith & Fulham Council has welcomed new residents to its 10 new genuinely affordable homes in West Kensington.
Cllr Lisa Homan, H&F Cabinet Member for Housing, unveiled the new council-delivered homes on Thursday (24 March) and said: "These beautiful new homes are set to provide more genuinely affordable homes for local people."
"These are just some of 3,000 new high-quality homes we're delivering for local residents who may otherwise be unable to afford to stay in H&F."
All 10 flats will be rented out at social rent levels – ranging from £145 to £167 a week.
New homes
The new homes are collectively called Tavener Court and are located on the Springvale Estate facing Ceylon Road in West Kensington W14. They were built by Ark Build PLC on behalf of H&F Council.
As landlord for the new homes, H&F Council ensured secure tenancies through the council's housing register. This means that tenants are normally able to stay in the properties for the rest of their lives.
"This is all I've ever dreamt of," said Gabby Weather, who has lived in H&F all her life and is now looking forward to moving into Tavener Court together with her two sons.
"This home is more than just a building. It means safety, stability, emotional well-being, and happiness. It is everything to me.
"Since I was six years old, I have not had a home and had to move from place to place, never feeling safe. All I've ever wanted was somewhere to finally call my own, that can be mine forever.
"I finally can feel peace, knowing that we, my children and I, will always have somewhere loving to sleep. That I can give my children something I never had but that every child should be able to have – a home.
"My new life starts today. Thank you eternally."
Staying in the neighbourhood
The new development is equipped with a lift and includes:
- six two-bedroom flats
- two ground floor one-bedroom flats
- two three-bedroom houses, spread across three floors.
They form part of a wider council scheme to deliver another 3,000 new homes over the next eight years, 60 per cent of which will be genuinely affordable.
Prior to accepting their offers, all shortlisted Springvale candidates were invited to visit the estate and wander the halls of their new would-be homes for the first time.
"I'm very pleased to be able to stay in the same neighbourhood", said Sofia Ali, 40 years old, who's been a H&F resident for 14 years.
"I've been living on Blythe Road, just two minutes away, waiting to be rehoused. This has been well worth the wait!"
Shared prosperity
The main priority of H&F's local lettings plan (very large pdf file, 16.3MB) is to support members of the local community with a housing need.
That's why H&F Council gave Springvale residents on the housing register waiting list priority when determining who would be first in line for a home on the estate.
Cllr Homan added: "One of the council's core values is for the people in our borough to benefit from the prosperity we grow. We made sure that they'd be the first to move in."
To join the register, applicants must be a resident of the borough for a continuous five years and meet at least one of the following conditions:
- overcrowded by at least two bedrooms against their defined housing need
- suffering from a medical condition that is severely affected by existing living conditions (or worse)
- the Council has accepted a duty to accommodate under homelessness legislation and the applicant is residing in an unsuitable accommodation.
Get help finding a home in H&F.
Ahead of construction, detailed consultations were undertaken with residents living on and near the new Springvale homes, including a formal consultation on the planning applications.
Read about our resident consultation.
More affordable homes underway
H&F has embarked on a journey to deliver the greatest number of genuinely affordable homes in a decade.
Springvale marks the first completed development of a new generation of affordable homes which the council is building from the ground rather than by converting existing properties.
Next in the programme are our 132 – 100 per cent affordable – 'EdCity' homes in White City, where H&F Leader Stephen Cowan and Ark's Chief Executive Lucy Heller dug the first ground earlier this month.
The first 30 homes are set to be completed by September next year, with the rest to follow in 2025.
The development will also provide 100,000sqft office space for up to 1,000 jobs, a new home to the Ark Swift Primary Academy and OnSide Youth Zone, as well as more space for Harmony Nursery and an adult education and community learning centre.
Meanwhile, works on the Aintree estate (SW6) to replace the now demolished Hartopp and Lannoy Point high-rise tower blocks are set to begin early next year.
112 of the 134 planned homes will be genuinely affordable, with new residents projected to move in by autumn 2025.
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