New housing development officially opens
Tuesday March 16, 2010
More than 100 families have been given a helping hand onto the housing ladder thanks to a landmark development in Askew.
A former factory in Larden Road has been turned into 475 homes, with more than half for those on low and middle incomes.
Council Leader Stephen Greenhalgh visited the site last week (Wednesday March 10) and said the development underlined the borough’s commitment to helping hardworking people purchase their first home.
The site was purchased by the Genesis Housing Group in 2005 who have built a development comprising 475 properties. It includes 104 social rented homes, 184 part buy / part-rent, 165 for outright sale and 22 commercial units.
The scheme has a significant number of larger family homes and for those allocated social rented housing a unique incentive scheme developed by Genesis called the inclusive living scheme.
Under this scheme, social rented tenants who have three years up-to-date rent records and no history of antisocial behaviour will be given by Genesis a sum equating to three per cent of their property value. The tenant will be able to use this sum to buy their property or add to this equity interest up to ten per cent or use the money to buy elsewhere, thereby releasing a new home for rent.
As part of the planning deal struck by the council, Genesis has also ploughed over £500,000 into improvements at nearby Wendell Park School and over £100,000 on public transport.
What makes this development even more special is the fact that Genesis managed to finish building the development ahead of schedule and have sold almost all of the homes already despite the housing downturn.
Speaking after his vist, Cllr Greenhalgh, said: “This is fantastic news for hard working middle income earners who want to live in Hammersmith & Fulham but have not been able to afford to. Owning your own home gives you a greater stake in your community, a greater stake in your own future prosperity and more choice. It is a natural aspiration to want to own your own home but unfortunately that is a distant dream for many Londoners.
“Average house prices in the borough are over £450,000, well out of the reach of many hard working families but schemes like this show that it is possible to get a foothold on the property ladder even during these tough economic times. This is exactly the kind of scheme that helps us to make Hammersmith & Fulham your borough of opportunity and I applaud Genesis for their efforts."
Neil Hadden, Genesis’ Group Chief Executive, said "Everyone at Genesis is immensely proud of Factory Quarter. The fact that these fantastic new homes were finished seven months ahead of schedule is testament to the hard work from all parties involved, and highlights the great relationship Genesis has with Hammersmith and Fulham Council. I would like to wish all the new residents a very happy life in their new homes."
The Factory Quarter development also enables middle income earners to get onto the property through a scheme called Rent to HomeBuy. This scheme allows borough residents to move into a new build property and pay rent at 80 per cent of the market value for up to five years.
Rent to HomeBuy means that resident can purchase the property, if they wish to do so (and match the housing association criteria), during the rental period. Because the rent is set lower than would be paid in the private sector the scheme offers future homeowners the opportunity to save money to put towards the cost of buying the property.
The prices for homes at the Factory Quarter range from £250,000 for one bedroom homes to more than £400,000 for penthouses.
