Hospital car park site bought by Mayor for new affordable homes in London
The Mayor of London has used £12.8 million from his Land Fund to purchase a 1.4 hectare site at the North Middlesex University Hospital (NMUH) in Edmonton for new build affordable homes.
The site currently comprises of a car park, offices, and hospital testing facilities. These facilities will be relocated to other parts of the hospital ensuring no loss of services to patients.
The Mayor Sadiq Khan expects the site to deliver at least 200 homes, with 50% of those being social rented or other genuinely affordable housing, in line with his Housing Strategy and construction is scheduled to begin before March 2022.
By purchasing the site, the Mayor will also be able to help deliver enhanced health facilities with increased capacity.
The sale of this site comprises part of the Trust’s NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP). Before committing to the purchase, the GLA and Trust worked closely to ensure the proposals meet the Mayor’s six assurances for STPs.
The site was previously owned by LocatED, the Department of Education agency responsible for delivering the Academy programme, as the location of a new school. This plan subsequently fell through leading to LocatED seeking to dispose of the land.
‘The Mayor and I are determined to do everything within our power to build more social rented and other genuinely affordable homes for Londoners,’ said James Murray, deputy Mayor for housing and residential development.
‘Under Sadiq, City Hall is taking a far more active approach to unlocking sites across the capital. We are using the Land Fund he established to buy sites like this one in Enfield, where we will be able to build genuinely affordable homes whilst protecting healthcare for the local community,’ he added.
According to Maria Kane, chief executive of North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust, the investment is a fantastic opportunity to develop the area around North Middlesex University Hospital.
‘We’re looking forward to working with the Greater London Authority to make best use of the land so that it better meets the needs of people who use the hospital and benefits our local community,’ she explained.
The £250 million Land Fund is a key part of the Mayor’s more interventionist approach in London’s land market with the aim of getting more homes built, increasing the proportion of affordable homes, accelerating the speed of building and capturing more value uplift for the public benefit.
The Fund acquires and prepare land for new and affordable housing, working closely with boroughs and the GLA’s development partners. Money made from selling the land will be recycled to buy further land for new homes.
