COVID-19 fails to stop council providing essential new council homes

18 August 2020

Work is continuing to build hundreds of new council homes for residents across Southwark despite COVID-19.

With special measures in place to protect builders and local residents from spreading the virus, work has continued on a number of sites to keep the building programme on track.

Councillor Leo Pollak, Cabinet Member for Social Regeneration, Great Estates and New Council Homes, and Councillor Kieron Williams, Cabinet Member for Housing Management and Modernisation, visited one of the council homes construction sites at Daniel’s Road, Southwark.

Councillor Leo Pollak said, “I was excited to see the progress made on this development which will be exclusively council housing to meet the urgent need in the borough. I was impressed by Osborne’s health and safety practices and their commitment to meeting the planned timescales of the project despite the disruption caused by COVID-19.”

The Daniel’s Road site forms part of Southwark’s New Homes Delivery Programme, which is building 11,000 new council homes across the borough by 2043 to tackle the housing crisis locally.

The site has been contracted to Osborne to build 19 new council homes, including five terraced houses and 14 flats in a separate block. The new site will also feature new open areas, play spaces, landscape improvements and new pedestrian connections between Barset and Howbury Road to Daniel’s Road.

The site was originally identified by the current Daniel’s Road residents as unused space that had the potential to be developed for new council homes. The residents approached the council with the suggestion of developing the existing car park, children’s play area and garages into new homes.

To meet the urgent need for new council homes, Osborne have continued working on the site as much as possible throughout the coronavirus pandemic, and have implemented rigorous health and safety regulations to make this viable.

The pandemic has had a significant impact on the construction industry and brought many challenges.  Despite this, Osborne has kept the site fully operational, in compliance with current Site Operational Procedure and Public Health England guidelines.  Osborne started working on site on 24 October 2019 and are set to complete the development by February 2021.

John Craig, Managing Director said “Working in partnership with Southwark Council, our supply chain partners and our consultant teams, I am delighted that we have been able to keep the site safe, operational and on track to deliver council homes in the borough.”

Page last updated: 18 August 2020