Out-Law / Your Daily Need-To-Know

Haringey bids for housing zone status for Tottenham Hale

09 Sep 2014, 4:00 pm

Haringey Council has submitted a bid to the Greater London Authority (GLA) for the Tottenham Hale area to be designated as a housing zone under an initiative introduced by the mayor of London in June.

According to a statement released by the Council yesterday, housing zone designation is expected to help provide a new town centre with nearly 5,500 homes in Tottenham Hale by 2025. The Council intends that half of the homes would be for low cost rent or sale.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson introduced the housing zones initiative in June and Tottenham Hale was earmarked as one of five 'frontrunners' for housing zone status in the bid prospectus (34-page / 1.2 MB PDF). The GLA intends to designate a total of 20 housing zones with relaxed planning restrictions across London. Each housing zone will receive a share of £400 million in loans from the GLA and central government towards the cleaning up of brownfield sites and the delivery of infrastructure to allow rapid development.

The Council said that housing zone status "would mean an extra 1,700 homes could be built at Tottenham Hale than is otherwise viable". The bid requests £28m of infrastructure investment to unlock brownfield sites for development and improve public spaces, and £50m, which would be matched by the Council, for the acquisition of land.

The area is set to see major redevelopment in the coming years, with a £110m London Underground, rail and bus station and a new stadium for Tottenham Hotspur Football Club planned. The Council also proposes "new mixed-use developments along the waterfront of the Lee Valley Regional Park" and in a "creative quarter in South Tottenham".

"We're determined to make the most of Tottenham Hale's potential to be a place that is the heart of affordable living, where thousands more Haringey families have a chance to get on the housing ladder," said councillor Alan Strickland, the Council's cabinet member for regeneration and housing, in a statement.

"Our housing zone bid could bring together landowners to get things moving and get spades in the ground quicker than would otherwise be possible, easing the pressure on our residents struggling to save for a deposit or find an affordable place to live."

The deadline for local authorities to submit housing zone bids to the GLA is 30 September.