Southwark celebrates building works reaching the roof level at the Flaxyard site in Peckham

28 September 2022

Southwark Council celebrated a topping out ceremony to commemorate building works reaching the roof level at its council homes site in Peckham on Wednesday 21 September 2022. Southwark Council is developing the old Flaxyard site to provide 96 new council homes for local people and 24 council shared ownership homes.

Building contractor Bouygues UK led Southwark councillors and employees on a site visit to the roof level, where they laid a ceremonial brick to mark the occasion.

Cllr Darren Merrill, Southwark’s Cabinet Member for Council Homes and Homelessness, said, “I’m delighted to see the building works progressing so well here on such an important council homes site in the heart of Peckham. This site will provide 120 desperately-needed new homes for local people, all of which will be genuinely affordable. With such enormous demand for housing in Peckham, I know that these new homes will represent hope, stability and security for so many in our community.”

Rob Bradley, CEO of Bouygues UK, said: “I’m so pleased to be here to celebrate the progress we have made on this important scheme which will make such a positive difference to the local area and increase the availability of affordable housing. It’s fantastic to be helping Southwark Council with their goal of building thousands of new council homes across the borough.”

The Flaxyard development will be three new buildings of four and six storeys, located next to Peckham High Street, bordered by Sumner Avenue and Melon Road. There will also be a commercial unit on the ground floor of one of the blocks.

Southwark Council is building 96 new council homes at the site as part of its commitment to tackling the housing crisis locally by building thousands of new council homes across the borough. The council met its target of starting construction or delivering 2,500 new council homes by May 2022, and has plans to start 1,000 more by 2026.

In line with the council’s local lettings policy, at least 50 per cent of the new council homes at the Flaxyard site will be offered to local tenants in housing need already living in the immediate area. This means that they can stay close to friends, family and the services they already use. The remaining homes will be allocated to others on the council’s wider housing waiting list.

Southwark Council ensures that all their building contractors give back to the local community when they take on construction projects in the borough. As part of this commitment at the Flaxyard site, Bouygues UK has led 21 employment and training sessions with unemployed local residents, given five presentations to local schools, spent 158 hours volunteering in the community and given £29,755 to local causes.

Building works are expected to finish at the Flaxyard site in August 2023.

Page last updated: 11 October 2022