Council should fund 100% affordable housing at Twickenham Station (Twickenham & Richmond Liberal Democrats)

Council should fund 100% affordable housing at Twickenham Station

September 5, 2011 11:10 AM

• [Sep 05]: ALL new homes built as part of the redevelopment of Twickenham Station should be affordable housing, even if this requires a public subsidy, says the Leader of Richmond's Liberal Democrats. Cllr Stephen Knight, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, said:

"We have a dire need for more affordable housing in this borough to tackle a growing problem of overcrowding and homelessness. Given how few sites there are in the borough for significant new housing and the fact that the station is public owned land, all the new homes should be affordable housing, either social rented or shared ownership. The council has a significant capital budget available for subsidising affordable housing schemes, put in place by the previous Liberal Democrat administration, and there is also government's funding available via the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).

It is time the council stepped in to offer the required subsidy to enable all the new homes to be affordable. The original application from Solum Regeneration on behalf of Network Rail included just a paltry 28 affordable flats compared with 137 luxury private apartments. The latest application has no affordable homes whatsoever, with all 115 flats being luxury private apartments."

• Twickenham station plans cause further divide [RTT Sep 09]

• Kier to start £20m Walthamstow station scheme [Construction Enquirer Sep 19]