Forum Topic

Wandsworth Park Housing Scheme now to be 100% 'affordable'

Brilliant news heralding the provision of much needed social housing in Putney to balance the mid-range luxury developer schemes so beloved by our caring L.A. Well done Mayor of London. I suspect the scheme, when built, will provide a much-needed boost to Southside Shopping Centre which is about to lose Debenham's to add to the already lost shops.

Clifford Cowell ● 2576d10 Comments

Unfortunately "Affordable Housing" isn't affordable to an awful lot of people.  It isn't the same as Social Housing.https://www.cpre.org.uk/magazine/opinion/item/4685-affordable-housing-for-all?https://www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2014/feb/03/affordable-housing-meaning-rent-social-housingShelter also has some definitions.  The new name was deliberately designed to confuse us all.

Philippa Bond ● 2576d

Philippa, sad but true. Exactly what price will these flats be sold for? What salary will buyers need to earn to buy one?

Lucille Grant ● 2576d

My neighbour, who had been a local postman for many years, looked into "affordable housing" and realised that in no way could he afford it on his wages.  I think that applies to most people who are key workers, eg, firemen, paramedics, carers, nurses and so on.I hope when they say "social housing" it means council flats and I hope the block doesn't have that cladding.

Bunny Payne ● 2576d

A cynic might say this is just a PR stunt to put a positive spin on a price reduction for flats which won’t sell at the full price.

Jonathan Callaway ● 2576d

Council housing is "Social Housing". "Affordable Housing" as others have said is certainly not affordable for many people.

Caroline Whitehead ● 2576d

A PR exercise in semantics to catch us out.  Also unfortunately many developers seem to manage to squirm their way out of providing any affordable housing at all in their developments.  Check it out!

Philippa Bond ● 2575d

Let's be under no illusions. The only reason the developers have made this 100% 'affordable' shared ownership is because they haven't a cat in hell's chance of selling the flats on the open market. There was a recent survey on this website which showed that in the last quarter just 3 new builds had been sold in SW15. Yes I know that this development is just in SW18 but you take my point.

Hugh Walton ● 2574d

'Affordable' is a relative and meaningless term.

Roy Robart ● 2574d

I wonder if there's any implications for Levellers Court, the planned 10 storey development on the corner of Putney Bridge Rd. Who's going to pay top dollar for those flats if there's something "affordable" a mile or so away?

Elizabeth Balsom ● 2574d

They are catering for two different markets really Elisabeth but my guess that the answer to your question is "not many". In the Riverside Quarter where the "affordable" flats are to be built there are also 4 or 5 blocks still under construction not to mention the 1000 or so flats that are yet to be built on the B&Q site. Some developers have clearly over estimated the demand and are going to catch a cold. I read somewhere that the Chinese who used to snap these flats up are now not allowed to export the currency required. The Ram Brewery site (developed with Chinese money) clearly isn't fully occupied and not one retail unit has opened on the site.

Hugh Walton ● 2573d