A scheme to rejuvenate a derelict west London site with 350 mixed-tenure houses is providing barely 10% affordable homes.
The Brentford Lock site will have only 30 affordable homes, falling a good way short of meeting the 50% target called for by London mayor Ken Livingstone in his recent London Plan.

A spokesman for the development partnership of British Waterways, Charles Church and St George, said the reason for the meagre percentage of affordable homes was because negotiations to redevelop the run-down site had been going on for the past decade.

The affordable housing element had been added to the original proposals at the end of the planning process. Providing more than 10% would have meant starting the process all over again.

The multi-million pound regeneration scheme will see public access restored to the waterfront at Brentford Lock. Access has been denied since the site fell into disrepair in the early 1980s. There will also be a wetland area and extensive renovation of the Brentford Lock itself, plus a 140-bed hotel, a bar and a restaurant.

Work, which started early this year, is due for completion in 2004.

Source

Housing Today