South London’s Southwark council is looking to identify disused spaces on its estates which it can use to increase the amount of housing stock in the borough.
The Hidden Homes scheme has been tasked with finding empty garages, laundrettes and disused offices which can be renovated. the scheme is to be funded by a targeted programme of selling “a very small amount of its current stock” including properties that are uneconomical to repair or difficult to let.
“Providing decent homes for all our residents is a constant challenge, and building new family homes out of ‘hidden’ places like these is a really creative way of increasing our housing stock. With funding from government grant, income generated by the sale of a small part of our stock, and funding through Registered Social Landlords, we hope to add 100’s of homes to our current managed stock as part of this strategy.”
