With housebuilding numbers in sharp decline, last week we saw the council embrace two creative solutions to London’s housing crisis.
Six modular homes have been constructed on Leroy Street, off Tower Bridge Road, which will offer somewhere for homeless people to live temporarily while they find permanent housing.
The homes take just eight weeks to construct and come fully furnished with a living space, a fitted kitchen, a modern bathroom and a single bedroom.
On Monday, the council also approved plans to transform a set of 27 garages on the New James Court Estate in Nunhead into the borough’s first ‘Community Land Trust’.
It’s an innovative model where groups of local residents buy up land for the benefit of the community – in this instance, the site will be used for 12 affordable homes where rent will be tied to local average incomes.
These are exactly the kind of interventions we need to see more of in London, with housebuilding currently down by 84 per cent since 2016 when Sadiq Khan took office.
London’s housing market is in crisis and the solutions adopted by our authorities need to reflect that – so what we’re seeing from Southwark is impressive.
