Barnet Council’s cabinet members have given their unanimous approval to acquire 249 newly built homes from developer Redrow.
These homes will be made available for ‘affordable’ rent to residents in the borough.
The exchange of contracts with Redrow is expected to be completed by the end of June, formalising the agreement. Starting from October 2023, most of the new homes will be made available for rent, with the remaining units becoming available in January 2024.
The properties are part of the latest phase of the Colindale Gardens development and will consist of a range of housing options. Among them, there will be 42 three-bedroom family homes and 40 homes that are wheelchair adaptable.
Additionally, the housing stock will include studios, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom properties, catering to a variety of needs.
Barnet Council will acquire these 249 homes through its Housing Revenue Account, and they will be managed by Barnet Homes. This acquisition will further augment the council’s social housing portfolio, which currently stands at 13,000 properties throughout the borough.
Cllr Ross Houston, Deputy Council Leader and Cabinet Member for Housing & Regeneration, expressed his enthusiasm for the announcement. He noted the council’s commitment to providing high-quality, affordable housing, stating, “We have seized this unique opportunity to take a big step forward in our commitment to deliver 1,000 council homes by 2026.”
Cllr Houston also highlighted the cost-saving benefits of this acquisition, which will he says will reduce temporary accommodation expenses once new tenants are able to move in later in 2023.
As London’s second-largest borough by population, Barnet faces the challenge of a housing shortage and exorbitant rents. Cllr Houston stressed the importance of providing more genuinely affordable housing to alleviate the cost-of-living crisis faced by many residents in the borough.
In March, Barnet Council unveiled comprehensive plans to enhance housing in the area. These plans include transitioning from fixed-term to lifetime tenancies for social housing tenants, as well as committing £2.2 million annually for the next decade to address issues such as damp and mould in council housing.
