Bourbon Lane - c’est magnifique!
by Hammersmith and Fulham Press Office
02/12/2008
Residents are now benefiting from 78 new homes at the brand new Bourbon Lane development in White City.
The multi-award winning Octavia Housing scheme - next to the Westfield mega-mall - has been described as a ‘brilliant example of how to achieve high quality and generous affordable housing’. The buildings have won nine awards and have been praised for their ‘light and airy’ feel.
W12 is one of the most deprived areas in London with 75 per cent of properties on the White City estate for social rent. Unemployment levels in the area are running at twice the H&F average and the council is working hard to create a more mixed and balanced range of households through more progressive lettings policies.
Already thousands of construction jobs have been created next door to Bourbon Lane at Westfield London and now another 7,000 retail jobs - with 1,000 for local residents - are proving popular during the credit crunch induced recession.
Last week the Leader of the council, Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh, joined over 100 guests to view Bourbon Lane first hand and see how the councils social housing allocation plan is prioritising working households.
Entitled ‘Un fête de Notre Succés’, the launch event had a distinctly French feel in recognition of the original motivation for the design - an Anglo-French competition, which aimed to develop excellence in housing design.
H&F Council Leader, Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh, said: “W12 is one of the most deprived parts of London and the council is trying to create more mixed and balanced communities in White City by using Westfield as a catalyst to regenerate the wider area and improving our housing policies so that working households get the homes they need.
“Bourbon Lane is a beacon of hope in the shadow of this fantastic cathedral to consumerism.”
Previously a run down Brownfield site, Bourbon Lane was part of the planning agreement for the Westfield Shopping Centre, successfully negotiated by H&F Council. It now provides much needed housing for rent and to buy on a shared ownership basis.
Completed in July 2007, the £15 million scheme has been praised for achieving the highest architectural standards while creating a genuine sense of community.
Nanna Ameer, who lives in Bourbon Lane, said: “This is a brilliant place to live. Everyone has their own outdoor space and it is a real community. Now Westfield has opened, all of my friends want to move here too.”
Last year the council launched its open for business campaign to encourage developers to invest in H&F to the benefit of local residents. According to a Joseph Rowntree Foundation study on housing affordability, H&F is the least affordable area in London in terms of the proportion of younger working households able to buy at lowest quarter house prices.
Cllr Greenhalgh added: “With high house prices and the credit crunch making mortgages harder to come by, buying your first home can be a distant dream for many Londoners. But, with schemes like Bourbon Lane, this council is helping low and middle income earners to get that vital first step on the ladder.”
Only 44 per cent of people own their own home in the borough, compared to 68.7 per cent nationally. The council wants to increase that figure to 50 per cent by 2014 by giving those on low to medium incomes the chance of buying in the borough.
