Lambeth Council to tackle housing crisis with significant residential schemes

Plans to redevelop two estates and deliver almost 300 additional homes to help solve Lambeth’s housing crisis are set to be discussed by councillors.

The council has presented proposals for a partial redevelopment of the Knight’s Walk estate which would see 15 homes retained and 18 demolished, to be replaced by 82 new homes. A proposed redevelopment of the Westbury estate would provide 232 net additional new homes.

Both schemes would allow 40% of the additional new homes to be at council rent levels.

The proposals are part of the Council’s wider commitment to build more and better homes in Lambeth as well as deliver 1,000 extra homes at council rent levels. Both Knight’s Walk and Westbury are among six estates included in the borough’s estate regeneration programme.

Council officers came up with six potential development schemes for Knight’s Walk, ranging from building on available land to complete redevelopment.

The preferred scheme would see 82 additional homes being built at Knight’s Walk and all existing residents given the guarantee of a home that meets their needs. Of the 64 additional new homes, 25 would be at council rent levels.

The Cabinet will also discuss a proposal to redevelop the Westbury estate, demolishing 86 homes but retaining two towers and providing 318 new homes. The redevelopment would increase the number of homes on the estate to 478, an increase of 232.

A council spokesman said: “We are committed to tackling Lambeth’s housing crisis by building 1,000 extra homes for council rent in the borough. We must look at every scrap of land available to us to help provide those much-needed homes.

“However, we are also determined that our efforts to build more and better homes are backed by existing tenants. The preferred options for the redevelopment of Knight’s Walk and Westbury are the result of several months of design work, testing and consultation with residents on the estates.”