Work has started on a 766-home housing regeneration project in Woolwich, which includes 352 homes to be made available at truly affordable rents to local people on Royal Borough of Greenwich’s housing waiting list.
Trinity Rise Ground break all2
The new developments, Trinity Park and Trinity Rise, will also offer 76 shared ownership homes, with the remaining 338 properties for private sale.
Of the 352 truly affordable rented homes, 177 will be managed by PA Housing association, the rest will be part of the Council’s own Greenwich Builds programme. All will be available via the Council’s Choice Based Lettings to people on the housing waiting list.
Each home will be built in accordance with the Future Homes Standard and will take into account forthcoming changes to building regulations, through the use of sustainable technologies like air source heat pumps and solar panels.
One in ten of the homes are wheelchair adapted, and all meet or exceed the Nationally Described Space Standards.
A ground breaking ceremony marked the start of work on the £290m scheme, being built by Lovell on the site of the former Morris Walk Estate.
Trinity Park and Trinity Rise are part of the One Woolwich programme, under which three older housing estates in the area are being redeveloped.
Leader of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, Councillor Anthony Okereke, and Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Councillor Aidan Smith, joined Lovell Regional Managing Director Mick Laws to officially mark the start of construction.
Cllr Okereke said: “With One Woolwich we are continuing to deliver on our promise to regenerate the local area whilst also meeting the urgent demand for affordable housing in our borough.
Over 350 of the homes at Trinity Park and Trinity Rise will be available at truly affordable rents to those on our housing waiting lists, with a further 76 homes for shared ownership. This is a fantastic level of provision for those most in need of a safe, stable, affordable home.
The extensive landscaping and links to Maryon Park will make for a thriving, green neighbourhood, perfectly complementing a newly revitalised and re-energised Woolwich.”
Cllr Smith said: “The 352 truly affordable homes at Trinity Park and Trinity Rise for local people on our housing waiting list are a great boost to our Greenwich Builds programme, which is creating 1,750 new council homes across the borough, 175 of which are located at Trinity Park.
Our social value requirement means that the local community will further benefit from the building of these homes in the form of jobs, apprenticeships and more.
Together with recently approved plans for a new state-of-the-art leisure centre, public realm improvements in Beresford Square and Powis Street, and the recent arrival of the Elizabeth line in the borough, these new developments are key elements in a major revival of the whole area.”
Lovell Regional Managing Director, Mick Laws, said: “This marks a huge milestone in the project and we are delighted to finally get underway on another major regeneration scheme for Woolwich which will deliver hundreds of energy efficient new homes to the borough whilst also driving job creation, apprenticeships and economic growth over the next six years. There aren’t many new schemes in London which are building this many family homes.”
Mick added: “The Lovell vision is to create high-quality schemes with a strong sense of place and community. Our approach will ensure the new homes enhance existing connections to local communities, shared facilities, health, transport links and other infrastructure.
“Lovell was chosen for its flexibility and collaborative approach to long term partnership. We are proud of what we have achieved so far with our partnership with Royal Borough of Greenwich at Trinity Walk in Woolwich. These fantastic new homes will provide further opportunity for people living and working locally to live in these homes at accessible prices.”
Trinity Park and Trinity Rise will provide a mix of one, two, three and four bedroom houses and apartments, alongside landscaped communal areas, play spaces and parking.
They join Trinity Walk, a 684-home scheme completed by Lovell in 2021.
In total over 1,500 new homes should be created across the three developments, with 532 available at truly affordable rent to people on housing waiting lists via the council’s Choice Based Lettings system, and 147 for shared ownership.
The regeneration will also benefit from £8m of Section 106 contributions to further improve the area.
The Council is working closely with Lovell to ensure that social value is provided in the form of employment opportunities for local people, with all jobs issued to Greenwich’s job brokerage service, Greenwich Local Labour and Business (GLLaB).
For some months on the now-completed Trinity Walk development, this resulted in over 80% of those working on the site being Royal Greenwich residents.
