Celebration of milestone at new council homes site in Bermondsey

9 October 2024

Southwark Council is celebrating a key milestone at one of its sites for new council homes in North Bermondsey.

The council is building 18 new high-quality council flats on Slippers Estate on land previously occupied by a car park and pram sheds.

Designed by architects Fraser Brown Mackenna, the new homes are a mix of one-to-three bedroom flats, including a home designed for wheelchair users.

Councillors and builders celebrated “topping out” alongside young people from local school Bacons College, on Thursday 3 October. ‘Topping out” is the moment when building works reach their highest point at roof level.

Cllr Helen Dennis, Cabinet Member for New Homes and Sustainable Development, said: “We want everyone in Southwark to live in decent, safe and well-maintained homes, and building more genuinely affordable homes is a vital part of this.

“These new council homes in Slippers Estate will each transform lives and will help tackle the housing crisis in our borough.

“We’re committed to building more homes in Southwark and working with Government to make sure councils can build the homes local people desperately need.”

Southwark is one of the largest local authority home builders in the country, having already built 1,740 new council homes and with 1,317 more council homes under construction. Despite very challenging economic conditions affecting affordable housebuilding across London, the council is making every effort to start 1,000 new council homes by 2026.

Southwark Council is campaigning for the future of council homes.  Its report Securing the Future of Council Housing, is backed by more than 100 councils across England.

It is calling for five actions from Government to save council homes, including steps to make it easier to build new and replacement homes.

The building works at Slippers Estate are set to finish in spring 2025.

Page last updated: 09 October 2024