Lambeth Council and EDAROTH – a subsidiary of Atkins – have unveiled a new housing development which could provide a blueprint for the future delivery of social housing across the UK
The Hillside Gardens development in Streatham Hill features four new homes that will be rented to people on the council’s social housing waiting list.
The project was delivered as a pilot scheme for EDAROTH’s MetroHome housing product which is constructed using the latest offsite manufacturing techniques before being assembled on-site.
This approach delivers new social housing at speed, volume and at a significantly reduced cost compared to traditional new builds, and could also unlock brownfield sites and underutilised land with constrained access.
A new generation of social housing
Councillor Matthew Bennett, cabinet member for planning, investment and new homes, said: “Lambeth Council is committed to delivering a new generation of social housing in the borough, to tackle Lambeth’s housing crisis and support the thousands of families on our waiting list.
“I’m delighted to see the completion of this latest project which contributes to meeting that goal. The Hillside Gardens development demonstrates how despite restrictions in funding, restrictions on council borrowing and challenges in the development market the council is finding ways of providing much needed new family homes at council level rents.”
Mark Powell, EDAROTH managing director, commented: “Social housing is a long-standing national problem which will not be solved without innovation and positive disruption.
“As such, the Hillside Gardens development represents an early milestone for EDAROTH as we look to work in partnership with public sector clients across the UK to unlock the latent social and economic value of under-utilised land.”
Social housing pipeline in Lambeth
Across the borough, over 300 new social homes have been built since 2014 and the council has a pipeline of 1,000 new homes (including homes built, in construction or planned).
