How building in small spaces is allowing Islington to add council homes

Over 10 years we’ve learned a lot about building new council homes for our estates. It certainly isn’t always easy – we are building around existing communities and services. Plans and work need to be thought through very carefully to coordinate the building process and minimise the disruption for residents.

But the flip side of building on our estates is that we are adding to our existing communities and working alongside them. Under our local lettings policy, local residents have priority for the new council homes, so people stay near their friends, families and networks. Wherever possible, we work out how to keep people together.

“The most important thing we’ve found over the past decade – perhaps unsurprisingly – is just how vital it is to work with our residents throughout building on our estates”

On our newly finished Dover Court Estate, we demolished an old bedsit block and created new, much better quality, safe and secure one-bedroom flats nearby, where residents who’ve known each other for years can still be neighbours and be part of each other’s lives.

The most important thing we’ve found over the past decade – perhaps unsurprisingly – is just how vital it is to work with our residents throughout building on our estates. From when we first put pen to paper, to the first resident opening their new front door, our residents are at the heart of it all – talking about the plans, the benefits it will bring in terms of new homes and better public space, and answering their questions. We have also learned, and are still learning, how best to keep residents informed, especially about the unexpected issues and delays that inevitably come with building projects.

Adding homes to our estates, in sometimes tricky spaces, has brought really imaginative ideas. At Vulcan Way, we transformed undercroft garages – beneath existing housing – into brilliant new homes.

At Centurion Close, a derelict, under-used car park between existing housing and a railway line has become a block of eight two-bed flats. This scheme earned Fiona Monkman, our architect, a shortlisting for the MJ Long Prize for Excellence in Practice.

At Vaudeville Court an area of garages and hard standing that attracted anti-social behaviour and made the area feel unsafe at night has been transformed into homes with shared gardens and passive surveillance.

“Every new council home transforms the lives of the people who move into it, and the lives of others who can move into other council homes further down the chain”

Alongside this work there will be an extra £10m of funding to transform shared spaces on our estates – from better greenery and landscaping to playgrounds and outdoor gyms. This is on top of a £145m investment to help ensure council homes are energy efficient and have reduced carbon output, as well as upgrades, from fire safety to lifts, water tanks and CCTV.

We will keep working closely with our residents, and draw on all the lessons we’ve learned so far, as together we build the next generation of badly needed council homes in the coming years. Individually, every new council home transforms the lives of the people who move into it, and the lives of others who can move into other council homes further down the chain.

Collectively, bringing new council homes and improvements to our estates helps our communities to grow and thrive together.

Diarmaid Ward, deputy leader and executive member for housing and development, Islington Council