Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has released his first site bought by City Hall for 100% affordable housing to Catalyst housing association.
The former Webbs Industrial Estate in Waltham Forest, E17, will be transformed to provide 330 affordable homes for first-time buyers, all of which will be available through shared ownership.
The development, which attracted 13 bids, will also include 32,000 sq ft of affordable workspace and artists’ studios, a park and retail space in the Blackhorse Road area.
Khan instructed the Greater London Authority to acquire the site, which had stood derelict for seven years, in July last year after plans to build a free school on the site fell through.
Previous developers had an outline planning consent with 3% of affordable homes, according to the GLA.
Catalyst will work in conjunction with partners including Swan Housing Association and architect C F Møller Architects.
The deal comes ahead of the mayor setting out his plan for City Hall to take a greater role in intervening in land decisions across the capital. More details will be in his London Housing Strategy, due to be published in draft for consultation next month.
Shared ownership is one of the mayor’s favoured housing tenures in his £3.15bn Affordable Homes programme, alongside London Living Rent and London Affordable Rent.
It is the first time any mayor has bought and sold land with the additional profit being reinvested into more affordable homes for Londoners.
Khan said: “For too long there was a severe lack of genuinely affordable homes being built in London, which fuelled the housing crisis and is robbing many Londoners of their dream of buying their own home.
“I’m working hard to identify more brownfield sites across London that we can use to build the thousands of genuinely affordable homes London so desperately needs.
“This site in Walthamstow shows the benefit of City Hall taking a greater role unlocking and bringing forward land for development – working closely with housing associations like Catalyst to deliver a scheme that is 100% affordable for Londoners struggling to buy a home.”
Tom Titherington, Catalyst’s executive director of property and growth, said: “Catalyst’s financial strength and development record, coupled with Swan’s local market knowledge and construction management expertise, offers a comprehensive approach to placemaking, design and delivery.”
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