Inner London borough to build affordable housing for nursing staff

The new affordable housing model will provide around 100 homes at capped rents, in what the council called a “first for the borough”.

“This first site’s location is ideal for our borough’s keyworkers, with easy links to many of our primary frontline services”

Helen Dennis

Southwark Council will be building the 100 new affordable homes in Bermondsey for keyworkers, such as health and social care staff, and teachers, via a development agreement with a commercial partner.

The project delivers on the council’s commitment to start 500 affordable homes for keyworkers by 2026, it said.

The council added that a site at 177 Abbey Street had already been identified by the council for the development.

Its central location means keyworkers will be next to Zone 1, close to good public transport links, and within walking distance to some of Southwark’s primary service sectors.

Several major healthcare providers have sites located in Southwark including Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

The scheme, which is expected to start on site in 2026, will also include a new replacement space for the Beormund Community Centre in Bermondsey following a commitment from the council.

All key worker homes will be short-let tenancies in perpetuity – as opposed to a shared ownership model.

The short-let tenancies will be offered on a rolling basis with rents capped at London Living Rent levels, as set by the Mayor of London, with rents pegged at one-third of local average incomes.

A development partner will be procured to deliver the scheme in line with the council’s objectives, it said.

The partner will be responsible for designing a scheme that meets the brief, construction, and then managing the building and tenancies over a 40-year lease.

The developer will draw from the council’s list of eligible tenants on a first-refusal basis, according to the council.

Councillor Helen Dennis, cabinet member for new homes and sustainable development, described keyworkers as the “backbone of our city”.

“But now it’s harder than ever to find affordable housing within easy reach of work for many teachers, social care staff and healthcare workers, to name a few,” she said.

“In Southwark, we promised we would look after the keyworkers who look after us by building them dedicated housing that was genuinely affordable.

“But councils have long been at the mercy of a broken financing system after the policy choices of our last government,” said Ms Dennis.

“We are excited to work closely with a development partner on the first 100 of many more affordable keyworker homes for Southwark.

“We know there is market appetite for this project and the demand for these types of homes will only increase in the coming years.”

She added: “This first site’s location is ideal for our borough’s keyworkers, with easy links to many of our primary frontline services.”