Camden Council welcomes residents to new social housing
Date: 03/05/05
Camden Council's £85m regeneration of Swiss Cottage reaches its latest landmark stage this week as the first residents picked up their keys for 20 brand new social housing properties.
The flats are at the heart of the overall regeneration of the 2.5 hectare site at Swiss Cottage. The re-development project has been funded through a Public Private Partnership between Camden Council and Barratt Homes/Dawnay Day, in which the development partner builds new social housing, state-of-the-art leisure centre, community centre and doctor's surgery at no cost to the council.Â
The first group of residents will be moving into four x 1-bedroom, 12 x 2-bedroom, 3 x 3-bedroom and 1 x 4-bedroom flats, which can accommodate up to 78 people in total and will be managed by Ujima Housing Association. More homes will be provided at Swiss Cottage in December when residents will move into a further 22 social housing properties, situated above the leisure centre building, which will be managed by Dominion Housing Association. This will provide homes for up to 115 people in total with a mix of 18 x 3-bedroom and 4 x 2-bedroom flats.
Camden Council has 100 per cent nomination rights on the properties meaning that all of the new Swiss Cottage residents are from its housing list. People with the greatest need for a new home were selected to live in the flats through the council's Choice-Based Lettings system. Camden Council is working with a number of housing associations to provide new social housing across the borough.
Ian McNicol, Director of Leisure and Community Services, Camden Council says:
"This is a great step in increasing the number of much-needed homes that Camden Council is providing for local people. Our priority for Swiss Cottage is to provide the best possible leisure, health and residential development for the local community and the new residents will have a fantastic array of facilities to use and enjoy right on their doorstep. It's an exciting time to be moving to Swiss Cottage as we look forward to the opening of the new high quality leisure centre, 5-aside football pitch and landscaped green space."
The former civic site will also include a new market and pedestrian space, as well as the restored and refurbished award-winning Swiss Cottage Central Library and Hampstead Theatre, which both opened in 2003, and a brand new community centre, which opened in 2004.Â
The properties, designed by S&P architects, have been rated 'Very Good' under ECOHomes standards for building environmentally sound new homes. They have levels of thermal and sound insulation better than those required by current building regulations, have low energy light fittings and are built using timber from sustainable sources.
Under the Private Public Partnership the development partner Barratt Homes/Dawnay Day, which is building 131 units of private housing, is also building the leisure centre, community centre, doctor's surgery and social housing at no cost to Camden Council. The council retains the freehold interest in the housing land but grants a 125-year lease to the developer.
Ujima Housing Association was founded in 1977 by a group of black people concerned about the desperate problems facing young single black homeless men and women.
Ujima is the Swahili word for 'working together', and the organisation, which has since grown from strength to strength, is now the largest black-led Housing Association in Europe. Today the association works in 19 London boroughs and across a number of need groups, providing over 4,200 homes in management with a further 1,000 under development.
The Swiss Cottage regeneration scheme includes:
A new leisure centre, due to open to the public in early 2006 with:
· a 25 metre, eight-lane competition swimming pool with 200 spectator seats and a 20 metre x 10 metre teaching pool with a moveable floor
· a four-court sports hall with 100 spectator seats, that can be used for sports including basketball and badminton and two squash courts
· an innovative climbing wall
· two multi-purpose studios for activities including keep fit, table tennis and karate
· an extensive health and fitness area
· an under 5s crèche and soft play area for young children
· café with indoor and outdoor seating
A new doctors surgery;
A high quality landscaped green space, due to be completed by the end of 2005, with 7000 new plants and shrubs and more than 100 trees, focused around a water feature with projecting water jets. The space will include a brand new Football Association-standard floodlit, all-weather multi-purpose/football pitch, which will replace the existing ballpark;
The purpose-built Eton Avenue Market and attractive pedestrian space, which opened in January 2005;
The new two-storey Swiss Cottage Community Centre, which opened in December 2004. This centre is much bigger than the old one, with additional meeting space, new interview rooms, a larger hall and a great café and terrace. The range of activities on offer at the new Centre has been developed and increased;
The new Hampstead Theatre, which opened in February 2003;
131 units of private housing for sale.
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Ref Code: 05/109 Alison Birtwell 020 7974 6021
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Page last updated May 27, 2010 4:06 PM
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