Mayor and HCA invest over £54 million to end A406 housing blight in Enfield
28 September 2009
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This is a partner release. Issued by the Mayor of London
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, and the London region of the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) have today agreed £54.4 million of funding, to upgrade and refurbish over 400 properties adjacent to the A406 in Enfield. Many of the properties have, to everyone’s consternation, languished in disrepair for decades.
The funding was reported to the HCA London Board, chaired by the Mayor, fulfilling an election pledge to work with Enfield Council and Transport for London to resolve the issue. The stalemate that arose over the years prevented regeneration of this important area of London. The properties were originally compulsorily purchased by the Department for Transport in the 1970s to allow a major expansion of the A406 in Enfield.
They were inherited by Transport for London (TfL) from the Highways Agency in 2000 but the original plans were abandoned for a much smaller road improvement scheme, approved in September 2008, and the properties can now be renovated. In the next few weeks, and subject to agreement of terms and contracts, the properties will be transferred from TfL to Notting Hill Housing Trust. The Trust will invest a further £35.6m to refurbish the dwellings and build more affordable homes on the vacant sites, bringing the total investment in the area to £90m. Once refurbished and upgraded, they will all be affordable homes.
The Mayor said:
'During the election campaign I highlighted how unacceptable it was, that at a time when housing waiting lists were rising rapidly, the GLA group was sitting on large numbers of unoccupied and dilapidating properties.
'I promised to bring them back into use and with the hard work and commitment of Enfield councillors, TfL and the HCA, this sorry saga, and longstanding blot on London’s landscape, created by the dithering of successive governments, will be removed. Hundreds of Londoners and their families will now benefit with new affordable homes and this is a major step forward in the ongoing drive to reduce the scandalous number of empty homes in the capital.'
David Lunts, HCA London Regional Director said:
'This poor quality housing has blighted local residents for far too long. I’m delighted that HCA investment will help to finally bring this to an end and lead to many more high quality family homes for the people of Enfield.'
Enfield Council Leader Cllr Mike Rye said:
'For over two years now, the Council has been working hard with TfL, the HCA and its London Board Chair, Boris Johnson, to realise our plans to regenerate this part of the A406 and deliver the large family homes that we need here in Enfield. We are creating a minimum of 400 affordable new homes ,75% of which will be affordable through social rent and 25% through affordable home buy schemes. Work on this three year programme is anticipated to start early in the new year.
'I am delighted that we can finally put an end to the uncertainty and housing blight which has affected the area for over 40 years. This is the first of many schemes in Enfield that demonstrate our ability to work in partnership with government agencies to find innovative solutions to the borough’s housing problems and deliver our place shaping agenda.'
Kate Davies, Chief Executive of Notting Hill Housing said:
'Notting Hill is really looking forward to working with Enfield on this excellent regeneration project. The HCA has committed significant funds and, as soon as Notting Hill’s role is confirmed, we’ll start working with the local community. We want our residents to be able to love where they live and the views of local people will help shape what we do and how we do it.'
Ends
Media Enquiries: Press information is available from Richard Brookes or Helen Collier on 020 7983 6550 / 4020 or email economicdesk@london.gov.uk
General Public / Non-media enquiries: Call the Public Liaison Unit at the Greater London Authority on 020 7983 4100
Duty Press Officer: For out-of-hours media enquiries, please call 020 7983 4000
Notes to editors:
1. Since inheriting the properties in 2000, TfL and the London Borough of Enfield have worked together to maintain as many of the properties and where possible, rent them to tenants on a short term basis. However, due to the condition in which some of these properties were inherited by TfL along with no funding available for major improvements, a number of these properties have fallen into disrepair. Once the properties are formally transferred to the Notting Hill Housing Trust, the housing association will work with the London Borough of Enfield to repair and renovate the residential properties, turning them into new affordable social housing in line with the Mayor’s draft Housing Strategy and Enfield’s Affordable Accommodation Plan.
2. The Notting Hill Housing Trust has agreed a purchase price of £56.9 million for the properties and applied to the Homes and Communities Agency for a grant which will fund both the purchase of the properties and the renovation of the residential properties to raise them to a suitable living standard. Final settlement of terms are very nearly agreed between all parties and it is anticipated that these will be concluded in the next few weeks.