Hammersmith & Fulham moves into a new ERA
Education Regeneration Aspiration
Hammersmith & Fulham is already an exciting place to live and work. Its economy is growing, we have a thriving cultural and sporting scene and a high rate of new businesses starting up using the borough as a base. However, we face real challenges too. This is a borough of contrasts where too many people feel that the ladder of opportunity has slipped away. This is a council that wants to ensure that everyone has a chance to get a foothold on that ladder.
The statistics paint the picture. On one hand the Parliamentary constitution of Hammersmith & Fulham is the 15th richest in Britain, yet one in five of our workforce are on some form of benefits. We have the fourth highest property prices in the UK, yet we are second only to Tower Hamlets with the number of children receiving free school meals.
We need to ensure that everyone has access to the ladder of opportunity through excellence in education, more affordable home ownership and a regeneration policy that maximises our huge land values to the benefit of the borough as a whole.
This is an ambitious council that will work tirelessly on behalf of our residents to ensure that we have a cleaner, greener, safer borough with good quality, value for money services. We are setting out ambitious policies to create an educational and housing ladder of opportunity.
H&F Council Leader Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh
Investing in Schools of Choice
More than £100million is due to be invested in secondary schools across Hammersmith & Fulham using money from the Government's Building Schools for the Future fund.
H&F want to build on the improvements happening already in our schools by investing more than £100m of Government money to provide top quality schools of choice. We set up an independent Fulham Schools Commission, made up of educational experts, to guide us. And now, we will work with the schools in making this exciting vision a reality.
The long-term vision hopes to build on the big improvements already seen in secondary schools , with some posting their best ever exam results this year. See comparative results
Councillor Antony Lillis, Cabinet Member for Community and Children’s Services, said: “We recognise that far too many parents currently send their children out of the borough or into private education. Our vision is to provide state-of-the-art schools through innovative partnerships and by providing a 21st century educational environment. Currently none of our community schools have sixth-forms and that is something we want to change. The vision we are setting out is a long-term strategy for excellence in education. Ultimately, we want to ensure that we have local schools for local children.”
A foot on the property ladder
Hammersmith & Fulham is planning for more than 6,000 homes over the next ten years - 50 per cent above targets set down in the Mayor's London Plan.
Owning your own home is a natural aspiration that gives you a greater stake in your community, a greater stake in your own future prosperity and greater choice. Yet with average prices in the borough well over £450,000, many feel the first rung of the ladder of opportunity is beyond them. The second problem we have is that only 1 per cent of the housing stock in the borough out of 79,000 is low cost ownership housing.
To help address this H&F are planning for 6,000 new homes over the next ten years – 50 per cent beyond targets set down in the Mayor’s London Plan. And we are ensuring that 50 per cent of these homes are affordable, with the emphasis on home ownership in mixed and sustainable communities.
Only 44 per cent of people own a stake in their home in H&F, compared to 56% in London as a whole. With the fourth highest property prices in Britain, home ownership is in danger of becoming out of reach to low and middle income families.
This is highlighted by a recent Joseph Rowntree study which pointed out that 75% of working households in the borough were unable to afford to buy at the lowest quarter of house prices.
As well as increasing the number of affordable homes built in the borough, H&F has launched two schemes aimed at helping residents on lower incomes buy a place of their own - the Tenant Incentive Scheme (TIS) and H&F Homebuy.
Regeneration: Transforming our Borough
Hammersmith & Fulham Council is setting out plans to regenerate key parts of the borough, rejuvenating town centres and building more affordable homes.
New housing opportunities will be one of the things that emerge from our new approach to regeneration. The Westfield shopping development is already transforming parts of W12. We want to see that as a catalyst for further regeneration with the focus on W12, North Fulham and central Hammersmith.
The Council is seeking to unlock high land values by encouraging the regeneration of run-down areas with the focus on W12, central Hammersmith and North Fulham.
More than 80 developers packed out a landmark summit on September 25, at which they were invited to work with the council in formulating long-term projects to improve the borough.
Despite having some of the highest land values in the UK, excellent transport links and a superb location, more than 100 hectares of Brownfield land are undeveloped. This could be used for new housing, commercial and leisure use – boosting the local economy and bringing new jobs.
“The development of the Westfield shopping centre which opens next year is revitalising parts of W12,” said Council Leader Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh. “This shows what can be done and we want to see that as a catalyst to further regeneration in the area. Central Hammersmith is already an office hub, benefiting from its excellent location between the West End and Heathrow. We are already seen the impressive changes to Lyric Square and there are proposals to regenerate around the Town Hall, yet more can be done to really invigorate King Street. In North Fulham the challenge is to extend regeneration further up North End Road, bringing new life to the area. However, regeneration doesn’t just happen magically, nor does it happen overnight. You need a vision and a good offer. We have both.”
Cllr Greenhalgh added: “We are seeking long-term relationships with developers and other partners to spread the benefits of high land values across the borough. But make no mistake, development will be on our terms and will only happen if it is in the interests of our residents.”
Read more about our regeneration projects
King Street regeneration - breathing life into Hammersmith - press release 06/05/08
King Street regeneration - developer picked - press release 05/02/08
King Street regeneration - see the plans - press release 25/10/07
King Street regeneration - shortlist drawn up - press release 10/10/07
