Council should be building affordable family-sized homes on publicly owned land, say campaigners

Meridian Water: "Less is more"

In a newly released and fully referenced report entitled Less is more: Why local people will benefit from building fewer homes at Meridian Water, Better Homes Enfield stress the severity of the overcrowding problem in Edmonton, affecting more than 6,400 households:

Simply put, there are currently not enough homes with three or more bedrooms in Edmonton, especially given the number of families with children living in the area. Overcrowding is disproportionately experienced by people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds and is linked to a number of poor health outcomes and social disadvantages. The health inequalities and social disadvantages linked to inappropriate housing are clear to see and must not be ignored.

The solution set out in the report is to build many more family-sized homes by lowering the overall housing target:

This would have enormous benefits for people living in Edmonton. It would help to reduce overcrowding; it would enable people to remain in the area - close to family and support networks,and it would have significant benefits for the health and wellbeing of local residents. In short, we feel that far greater benefits and better value could be achieved for local people if fewer homes were built - that less is more.

Enfield Council is proposing 10,000 homes for Meridian Water, of which only 26 per cent would have three or more bedrooms, while its own planning standards specify that 60-65 per cent of new homes on similar developments should have at least three bedrooms. The campaigners refer to a 2016 study by an architectural practice which concluded that the maximum number of homes the site could accommodate and still conform with local planning standards was 8,000. Of these, 60-65 per cent could have three or more bedrooms - 2,200 more than currently proposed.

"A huge opportunity to take a more strategic view"

Furthermore, they argue, research shows that the proportion of affordable homes tends to increase as density decreases, so lowering the number of smaller flats at Meridian Water, reducing the density, is likely to create a greater proportion of affordable homes for the benefit of local people.

Better Homes Enfield consider that privately funded developments are unlikely to provide the family-sized housing that the borough needs, but

Meridian Water is a council led development on publicly owned land and, as such, it offers a huge opportunity to take a far more strategic view,and deliver the type of housing that local residents need.

Chase Farm: "Nowhere near meeting local housing needs"

Artist's impressions of some of the building types envisaged for Chase Farm. Better Homes Enfield considers such dense housing inappropriate for a site without urban amenities

In a separate report on their website, Better Homes Enfield criticise the decision of the planning committee at its meeting on 17th November to grant outline planning permission to build flats up to six storeys high providing a total of 362 homes.

The new application will produce something of a transformation in the way redevelopment of this part of the former hospital site was envisaged at the time of an earlier planning application, in 2015 - making the development denser and giving the area a "new urban character". Better Homes Enfield comment that the site will “benefit from” urban style housing densities, but not from urban-style amenities, such as cafes and shops.

Better Homes don't mention it, but an inevitable consequence of building so many homes without shops close by will be more driving, which is incompatible with the council's Climate Action Plan. There is a small shop next to Gordon Hill station, but you need to go as far as Lancaster Road for more shopping choice.

Homes for hospital workers: "It seems there will be none"

Of the 362 homes proposed, only 14 would be at London Affordable Rent levels, well below the proportion expected by borough and London-wide planning policies. Better Homes Enfield note that:

The previously approved application would have delivered just 13 homes at affordable social rent levels, which is abysmally low.  At the time, this was justified by officers because the application intended to build a further 53 homes designated as Key Worker Accommodation for hospital staff. Unfortunately, the current application no longer includes this Key Worker Accommodation. It’s worth remembering that there were once 286 homes designated for hospital staff on this site – now, with these latest plans approved – it seems there will be none.

The campaigners also note that far fewer family-sized homes are planned than under the 2015 application - a reduction of 94. Their overall assessment:

So, where does this leave us? A new urban area on the edge of the greenbelt, without urban amenities. A huge reduction in Key Worker Accommodation. Very few affordable to rent homes being built on publicly owned land. Far less family housing than is needed and far less than was previously agreed. We’ve seen this far too often – excuse after excuse given for developments that will have a big impact on local people but that fail to get anywhere near meeting local housing needs. The planning system is failing us. This has to stop.