Mayor of London visits Southwark to applaud 'council housebuilding renaissance'

16 December 2021

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, visited Southwark Council’s new council houses in Welsford Street, South Bermondsey, to celebrate the latest figures which show that the numbers of new council homes started across London are at the highest levels since the 1970s.

The Mayor of London and Deputy Mayor of London for Housing and Residential Development, Tom Copley, met with Southwark Council’s South Bermondsey ward councillors, Councillor Leanne Werner and Councillor Sunny Lambe, on Wednesday 15 December 2021.

Welsford Street is one of many developments that Southwark Council is working on across the borough to provide much-needed new homes for local residents. The council has committed to building 2,500 new council homes by May 2022.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said “The council homes of the 2020s are a new generation of spacious, light, green homes that will serve generations to come. Thousands of Londoners will spend this Christmas in secure, affordable council homes because of what we have achieved over the last five years.

“We must now build on this success, empower councils and deliver the homes we need to tackle London’s housing crisis.”

Councillor Stephanie Cryan, Southwark’s Cabinet Member for Council Homes and Homelessness, said “We are delighted to welcome the Mayor of London back to Southwark to celebrate the latest impressive figures on new council homes in London. We are proud to showcase our new houses in Welsford Street which exemplify the high-quality standards we have in place when building council homes for our residents.

“We know these spacious, well-designed houses with picturesque gardens will provide the ideal homes for local families to raise their children. This development is just one of many housing projects we are working on across the borough to meet our goal of providing 2,500 new council homes by May 2022.”

The Welsford Street homes are 10 spacious, family-sized council houses built on a site which was previously occupied by garages and a car park. Every house at Welsford Street has its own spacious, private garden and there is also a pocket park outside the development which was created to preserve three large Norwegian Maple trees.

The houses use air source heat pumps to provide heating and hot water. This is a low carbon, energy efficient system which absorbs heat from the outside air. This lowers the carbon footprint of the houses at the same time as reducing energy bills for residents.

Page last updated: 16 December 2021