Brent Council put out this press release on November 6th 2026. Only 7 of the homes are for social rent, 30 are for discredited shared ownership, and 86 for market sale at prices Brent residents can't afford.
The public are able to ask members of the Brent Cabinet questions at Full Council. The question and written answer are published on the Agenda and the member of the public is allowed a follow-up question at the meeting. Full Council is on November 16th.
Question from Stephen Thomas to Councillor Matt Kelcher (Cabinet Member for Regeneration & Planning):
Can the Cabinet Member for Regeneration & Planning advise what they are doing to address the shortfall and backlog in affordable housing supply across the borough given the level of units being delivered by private developers across Alperton, including the Beresford Avenue and Grand Union developments and all around Wembley Stadium and increase in use of buy to let and student accommodation and properties then being used as Air B&B. These developments are not felt to offer real benefit to local residents whilst also placing additional strain on local infrastructure and already stretched community services.
Response from Cllr Kelcher:
This administration is very proud of Brent’s record in delivering new homes for our local communities. Brent was recently named the UK’s number one council housebuilder by Inside Housing magazine, with 557 homes completed last year and a further 1,360 in the pipeline. Our wider approach to housebuilding supports a range of homes to meet different needs:
We have delivered 155 homes in 26/27 up to Q1 and we expect to deliver a further 300+ homes this financial year including in areas of need such as Alperton, Church End and Kilburn;
From Q1 2026-27 to date (including the number of planning permissions granted with affordable homes and across different the tenure types) – 201 LAR homes [London Affordable Rent], 61 Social Rent Homes and 10 Shared Ownership Homes
A range of homes for market sale.
A borough as diverse as Brent needs all these types of housing. Social housing is essential for residents on our waiting list, while other affordable tenures help households whose needs are not met by the market. We also need homes for the majority of our residents whose incomes place them above the eligibility thresholds for social or other affordable housing. Market-sale homes therefore also have a role in meeting local need and benefiting Brent residents.
And those seven homes for social rent will be for existing Council tenants being decanted from other blocks, still due to be demolished as part of Brent's South Kilburn regeneration. No new genuinely affordable Council homes for the thousands of local residents in need of them.
ReplyDeleteCllr. Kelcher and his Labour Cabinet colleagues can slap themselves on the back, and say what a wonderful job they are doing, but the reality behind their "spin" is very different!
The new high rise tower blocks shown here by Vistry are built directly above the HS2 tunnelling going on underneath them right now. So, new towers here being all shook up, where way more than seven estate local families are to be re-housed.
ReplyDeleteClever photo too that doesn't reveal the 10/ 11 storey actual tower build heights. South Kilburn estate residents did not want towers at least the photographs respect that wish, if the developer colonial brownfield domination reality does not.
The tall building zone in the Maida Vale flooding zone is an interesting risk for the new Brent Local Plan.
Can we please dop any use of the term affordable. Legally it means up to 80% of market price. Even Councillor Kelcher knows that is not `affordable' to most people in desperate need of housing. As Phillip Grant points out, no new social housing is being built as part of the South Kilburn gentrification/regeneration. Yet Brent has a long waiting list (already pruned) of people who can't afford more than social rents). Brent Council should be building housing that addresses this need rather than priding itself on building for those who can afford to buy or rent at extortionate rates.
ReplyDeleteGood point. However its not gentrification that is going on. The old South Kilburn council estate had amazing wellbeing supported living faculties built into it, its just that post 1979 right-thinking turned the support funding tap to them off. It's called austerity zoned, the new private tower wall estate is austere by design.
ReplyDeleteAlan Milburn please take note, the 1990's purpose built SK job centre is long closed to not support massive population growth in this for city planners brownfield exclusion zone.