Work has started on an Ealing Council project that will provide 92 new affordable homes in Northolt and help tackle the borough’s worsening affordable housing crisis.
Eighty-four of the homes will be let at London Affordable Rent, which is priced to suit the budgets of local people on low incomes. Those homes will be available to rent by some of the almost 8,000 families currently on the council’s housing waiting list.
The development, which is located on the grounds of the old Northolt Grange Community Centre, also includes 8 shared ownership properties. This scheme is designed to support aspiring homeowners currently unable to afford to purchase a home on the open market, by enabling them to buy a share of a home and pay rent on the remaining share.
It is expected that the homes at Northolt Grange will be ready for their new occupants to move into from spring 2026. The homes are being built with the support of the Greater London Authority (GLA) which is part-funding the development through a £99 million grant awarded to the council in 2019.
The development will include a variety of homes, including a pair of 5-storey apartment blocks of 1- to 3-bedroom apartments, and 4-bedroom houses.
Award-winning housebuilder The Hill Group is leading the construction work on the project. The new homes at Northolt Grange will contribute towards the council’s target of delivering thousands of new genuinely affordable homes to let in the borough by 2026.
The 2,100 new homes completed across the borough in 2022-23 meant that the borough had the highest number of housing completions in London that year. It also had the second highest number of affordable housing completions in London during the same period (1,195). Housing completions were at the highest level on record for the borough.
Councillor Shital Manro, the council’s cabinet member for good growth and new housing, said: “It’s great to see work starting on more urgently needed new affordable homes for Northolt. The affordable housing crisis has led to the highest ever number of applications for emergency housing to the council because people are at immediate risk of becoming homeless. These new homes will enable local people to continue living in their communities, in thriving new neighbourhoods.”
Simon Trice, managing director at The Hill Group, said: “It is a pleasure to be working with Ealing Council once again maintaining our long-standing partnership to create these much-needed homes for the local community. These high-quality apartments and houses have been designed to be energy efficient, helping to keep bills low for the residents at a time when the cost of living is a concern.”
