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its sustainability credentials, but also because it delivered properties that all exceeded the minimum requirements set out by local planners. For example, the two three-bed flats within the brick-clad part of the former hostel span 86 m2


and 95 m2 compared to the minimum of 70 m2


adjacent No 58, the one-bed and two-bed flats are sized 59 m2 compared to a minimum of 45 m2


and 60 m2 More and better homes


Lambeth Council’s development aspirations are underpinned by its commitment to delivering 1,000 new homes for council rent. This is just one way of addressing the local authority’s swelling housing waiting list, to which over 21,000 people had signed up in March last year. In addition, 1,800 families were found to be either homeless or in


temporary accommodation at the time, and the Valuation Office Agency estimated that monthly private rents in the area had breached £1,500 on average in the first quarter of last year. All this has prompted the council to further focus its powers on housing supply. Huw said: “The council is looking to build more and better homes. To do this we are setting up Homes for Lambeth, the council’s own development company, to deliver homes across a range of tenures, but with the objective to increase the number of affordable homes in the Borough.” Lambeth’s Estate Regeneration Programme focuses on six estates, but


the development team is also investigating opportunities for underused land or buildings they can turn into homes. “We are looking at an infill programme on similar sites like Akerman Road where we would be able to provide new homes for residents of the Borough,” explained Jones. Asked whether local authorities should concentrate on delivering more


low energy schemes – and whether those are cost-effective – he added: “Normally there would be a slight uplift on this type of development but


respectively. ; in the and 69 m2 Akerman Road


Total cost: £2,210,000 * Developer: Lambeth Borough Council Architect: Anne Thorne Architects/Prewett Bizley Contractor: Sandwood Design & Build Employer’s agent: Artelia UK * The funding was raised through a mix of Right to Buy receipts and S.106 contributions.


Property address


58A Akerman Rd 58B Akerman Rd 1, 56 Akerman Rd 2, 56 Akerman Rd 3, 56 Akerman Rd 4, 56 Akerman Rd A, B, C, 54 Akerman Rd


Bed(s)


1 2 3 3 2 1


4 each Max rent p/w


£124.31 £141.61 £156.48 £156.48 £139.70 £119.20 £164.71


so far it doesn’t look like it was significantly more expensive than a conventional build – but that’s mainly because we looked at this from the outset.” Huw concluded: “I think we are the ideal organisations to take up this method of building and prioritise it because not only are we building the houses, but we are managing them as well. We’ve got a long-term interest in the stock – and it’s also important for tenants to be able to afford living in these homes.”


Children ‘at risk’ from spending too long in temporary accommodation


Families with children in Scotland are spending too long in temporary accommodation according to Shelter Scotland. This is risking the health and well-being of thousands of children. Families are spending longer periods of time


in temporary accommodation, with an average stay of 24 weeks compared to 18 weeks in 2014. Nearly a third of families spent over six months in temporary accommodation, according to the research based on Freedom of Information Act responses from 30 Scottish councils. Shelter Scotland said the median time spent


in temporary accommodation by families with children has increased by almost 20 per cent in the last two years to more than 20 weeks. In addition 13 per cent of families with children were in temporary accommodation for longer than a year. Recent Scottish Government statistics


revealed that in September last year the number of homeless children in temporary accommodation had risen to 5,751. Alison Watson, deputy director of Shelter


Scotland, said “Losing your home is a traumatic experience in itself, but then having to spend increasingly long periods of time in temporary accommodation – with no guaranteed standard for the quality of your housing – just heaps more misery on people whose lives are already in crisis.”


“In September last year the number of homeless children in temporary accommodation had risen to 5,751”


She added “Children in particular are


adversely affected by homelessness and, as recent Scottish Government figures show, the


problem is getting worse not better – with 826 more children in temporary accommodation last year than the year before.”


www.housingmmonline.co.uk | HMM March 2017 | 27


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