Introduction

The redevelopment of the Alma Estate in Ponders End marks a significant transformation for this post-war estate. Initially approved in 2017, the project aimed to create a modern, sustainable community by demolishing 746 homes and constructing 993 new ones. Subsequent planning applications have increased the number of homes to 1,080, and last night, Enfield’s Planning Committee approved plans to further increase this number to 1,402.  While these changes bring new homes and improvements to the estate’s layout, they also result in a substantial loss of affordable housing, particularly the Social Rent homes that Enfield desperately needs.

Loss of Social Rent housing

Before 2017, 556 of the homes on the Alma Estate were classified as Social Rent. By the time the regeneration is complete, including the additional homes approved last night, the number of Social Rent homes on the estate will have reduced by 56%, from 556 to 246.

This drastic reduction in Social Rent homes will have a significant impact on the availability of affordable housing for Enfield’s most vulnerable residents.

Need for Social Rent housing

There is overwhelming evidence about the need for Social Rent housing in Enfield. For example, the borough has one of the highest rates of homelessness in the country, with well over 3,000 families living in Temporary Accommodation, including approximately 5,000 children.

Residents in Temporary Accommodation often face overcrowding, with many families having to live in a single room with one or more children. Conditions can be cramped and noisy and some accommodation is below the minimum size normally allowed.

One of the primary causes of this high rate of homelessness is Enfield’s lack of Social Rent homes. The shortage of Social Rent homes has also had a significant impact on the borough’s finances, as a large part of the cost of providing Temporary Accommodation is paid for by the Council.

Over the last 10-years Enfield Council has spent enormous amounts of money on Temporary Accommodation, resulting in cuts to services and increases to Council Tax. Last month, it was announced that Enfield Council would receive £30 million from the Government in ‘exceptional financial support’, with the council stating that its overspending had been driven by demographic pressures, including the rising cost of Temporary Accommodation.

Concerns About Shared Ownership

Most of the new homes built at the Alma Estate will not be Social Rent but will instead be sold on the private market (958 homes) or as Shared Ownership (approximately 170 homes).

This is also troubling, as last year a House of Commons Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee reported a wide range of concerns regarding ‘Shared Ownership’. For example, the Committee highlighted that issues such as rising rents, high service charges, liability for repairs and complex leases ‘make shared ownership an unbearable reality for many people ….’  

Unfortunately, neither the implications of the issues with Shared Ownership, nor of the reduction of Social Rent homes, were discussed at last night’s Planning Committee.

Conclusion

Last night, Enfield’s Planning Committee, on the advice of the council’s planning officers, approved revised plans for the Alma Estate that will result in a significant reduction of the borough’s stock of Social Rent homes. Council planners will argue that it would not be ‘financially viable’ for the scheme to deliver more Social Rent housing, and within narrow bureaucratic planning policy terms, they are probably correct. But planning policy cannot make the acute need for Social Rent homes simply disappear. The negative consequences of reducing the number of Social Rent homes are, and will be, very real. The financial consequences will be paid elsewhere, for example, by the council in the crippling costs associated with providing Temporary Accommodation. The human cost will be deep and long lasting, and paid by some of Enfield’s most vulnerable residents, including its children.

This decision will have serious implications for the whole community, and it is essential that decision-makers understand and respond to the urgent need for genuinely affordable homes in Enfield.