Leathermarket CBS and Southwark Council welcome residents to new homes in Bermondsey

1 November 2022

Leathermarket Community Benefit Society (CBS) held an event to celebrate the opening of 40 new council homes at Joyce Newman House in Bermondsey on Wednesday 26 October 2022.

The new development provides 40 new council homes for local people, made up of 34 flats and six three-bedroom townhouses. The development also provided a new playground and a community garden at the heart of Lawson Estate, both of which were designed and planted by local residents.

The development is named after the late Joyce Newman, a prominent figure in the local community who was the Chair of the Lawson Estate Tenants and Residents Association (TRA) for 40 years between 1940 and 1980.

Jacqui Roche and Debbie Walsh, Chair and Secretary of the Lawson TRA, said “Involvement of our residents from the outset in shaping improvements to our estate is so important for community cohesion and underpins the work of the Lawson TRA. 

“We are delighted that our residents shaped the design of the new homes and community gardens on our estate, right from the concept stage. We would like to acknowledge and thank our residents for their commitment to attending the many workshops at each stage of design development. 

“The success of the partnership between the TRA, residents, CBS, JMB and Southwark Council speaks for itself – 40 high-quality much-needed council homes and a tranquil community garden which has been truly community-led”.

Councillor Darren Merrill, Southwark Council’s Cabinet Member for Council Homes and Homelessness, said “I’m thrilled that the partnership between Southwark Council and Leathermarket CBS continues to be so successful in serving our residents and tackling the housing crisis locally. This community-led housing partnership is building new homes in the heart of London at council rent levels, and is a key part of our council homes building programme.”

In line with the council’s local lettings policy and the agreement with the CBS, 50% of the new homes have been let to local JMB residents who had been in housing need for many years. Six JMB residents living on the Lawson Estate have been re-housed into the new homes, including five households who had been living in overcrowded conditions for many years.

This development forms part of Southwark Council’s wider council homes building programme which is providing thousands of new council homes across the borough. Southwark Council already met its target of starting 2,500 new council homes by May 2022, and has plans to start 1,000 more by 2026.

The Leathermarket Community Benefit Society (CBS) was set up in 2013 to take forward the development of new council homes which would be managed by the Leathermarket Joint Management Board (JMB) in Southwark. The Lawson Estate is one of many council estates which is self-managed by residents through a Tenant Management Organisation (TMO).

Page last updated: 01 November 2022