New council homes at Lyon House help up to 50 families find a better place to live

The new residents of Lyon House joined Islington councillors today to open the new block of 20 high-quality council homes on Lyon Street, N1, which have been offered to nearby older residents first.

 

Built on the site of an old housing office, the new block of council flats contains 18 two-bedroom and two one-bedroom flats. The homes have been offered to local residents from Bemerton estate first through the council's Local Lettings Policy.

 

The majority of homes have been let to households downsizing from larger council homes - freeing up existing homes that can then be let to other families in severe housing need. This creates a chain of lettings that the council expects will help up to 50 families move.

 

Under the council's local lettings policy, priority for the new homes has been given to residents already living on the Bemerton estate.  They have been allocated to families where the tenant is aged 55 or over.

 

All of the homes are let at social rent and are built to the Lifetime Homes standard, which means they can be easily adapted to support residents' changing needs at different stages of life.  Designs for the housing were shortlisted for a Housing Design award.

 

Today (Friday 29 January) the new housing was officially opened with a celebration for local residents and councillors.

 

Helen Edwards, who has lived on the Bemerton Estate for 55 years and was one of the first people to move onto the estate when it was built in the 1960s, will be moving into one of the new flats.

She said:  "The new homes are beautiful.  It's very exciting - I can't wait for them to give us the keys!"

 

Cllr James Murray, Islington Council's executive member for housing and development, said: "People in Islington, and across London, desperately need more genuinely-affordable housing. We're helping to make that possible by building a new generation of council homes. 

 

"People from the local area were given priority for the new homes under our Local Lettings Policy, and many of them were leaving larger homes that they no longer need. That means we can re-let the older homes to families in severe housing need – as a knock-on effect, these 20 new flats will ultimately help up to 50 families getting a new home.

 

"I'd like to thank local people for putting up with disruption for the work, and we can all be proud of the new housing that will directly benefit the local community."

 

The homes were built by construction company Mulalley, who also paid for refreshments at today's celebration event.

 

The new homes in Lyon Street come a month after the council completed 18 new homes in Parkhurst Road, Holloway, including 11 new council homes for social rent and two shared-ownership flats.

 

Islington is committed to 2,000 new affordable homes between 2015-2019, including 500 new council homes.

 

For more about new council housing in Islington see www.islington.gov.uk/newbuild