Hounslow approves pledge to build 1,000 new Council homes

Hounslow Council has approved the pledge to build 1,000 new Council homes by 2026 in response to the current housing crisis. 

Hounslow has seen a stark increase in the demand for housing support since 2020, through job losses during the pandemic, rising costs and inflation creating greater strain on household finances and house prices 12 times more than the average residents’ earnings.  

There are currently over 6,000 families on the Council’s housing waiting list, many waiting on average of three years for a permanent home.  

Approved at the Council’s Cabinet meeting on Tuesday 17 January, the Housing Delivery Plan 2022-26 will see almost £1bn invested into building new Council homes to meet the growing demand of families and single people across the borough. This includes grant funding totalling £160m which the Council has secured from the Greater London Authority (GLA) towards the programme. During the last administration, Hounslow Council pledged to build 1,000 new homes from 2018 to 2022 and exceeded this target by building 1,169 by March 2022, they were mainly homes for social rent across the borough.  

The Housing Delivery Plan 2022-26 sets out how the new goal will be achieved, including ensuring all new developments are low carbon to support the Council’s climate change commitments. Current projects already underway include Hanworth Park House, which will see 120 new homes built and Charlton House which we see 209 new homes.  

Councillor Tom Bruce, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Development said:  

“We have a fantastic track record of delivering homes for local people, having exceeded our previous pledge in the last administration. The shortage of quality homes – at genuinely afford rents for local people – has meant demand for Council housing has continued to increase, which is why we have once again committed to building 1,000 new high-quality homes for local people.  

“As our local population grows it’s important, we meet the varying needs of our residents, building 1-,2-,3- and 4-bedroom homes are a key part of our delivery plan.  

“By building more homes we are also reducing the pressure on our front door services that help to prevent homelessness. We’ll therefore be more equipped to provide early intervention support to help those residents in need before they reach crisis point, while also being able to reduce our reliance on temporary accommodation and private landlords.  

“This also provides us with a fantastic wider benefit such as creating a range of jobs and apprenticeship training opportunities for local people in the borough and ensuring we have a housing stock fit for the future to reduce our carbon emissions as a borough.” 

Hounslow Council has committed to deliver up to 1,000 of the new homes through its own house building programmes, funded through our Housing Revenue Account. 

For more information read the full Cabinet report and Housing Delivery Plan 2022-26 here.