RETURN OF THE COUNCIL HOME, BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT-
East end families are celebrating the completion of the council’s flagship Watts Grove development
in Mile End in what will be one of the first council housing developments to be built by TowerHamlets in decades.
The development, commissioned three years ago by then
housing chief Councillor Rabina Khan working in partnership
with the Greater London Authority, will help tackle the
borough’s overcrowding problem with the addition of 149
homes, 100% of which are for social rent.
Cali Muuse and Mrs Nessa and their respective families will
be among the first to be handed keys to the modern spacious
council apartments. Today, they joined Councillor Khan at the site to inspect their new homes.
Cali said: ‘It’s absolutely beautiful. We can’t wait to move in. We’ve seen the work going on for ages
but we never dreamed we’d end up living here.’
PATH Group Leader, Councillor Khan said: ‘Watts Grove will
serve as a sharp rebuke to anyone who says council estates
are a thing of the past. This development was a cornerstone
of my regeneration strategy which has just seen Tower
Hamlets recognized as delivering more new homes than any
other council.”
PATH Chair, Cllr Abdul Asad said: “Whilst we deliver
regeneration projects like Dame Colet House, Watts Grove
and the Council infill housing programme begun under Cllr Khan, we need to continue to be visionary in delivering much needed homes.”
According to a GLA report the borough gained 1,830
affordable homes between 2013 and 2016, including
deductions for any affordable housing lost. Greenwich had
the second highest total, with 1,763 homes built, while
Newham came in third with 1,494.
Cllr Khan added: ‘Watts Grove shows how, working with the GLA, this council can take the lead incombating the crippling housing crisis across London.
‘The council has received a top ‘new homes bonus’ from the
government because we’ve built some many, and I’m pleased that the new administration has used
the HRA to subsidise the rent on developments like Watts Grove, as I would have done.’
