Building for a brighter future

With average house prices in the capital already nearly nine times the average salary, London is increasingly a city of housing haves and have nots. According to the London Housing Federation, one London home in 20 is overcrowded and there are 63,000 households in temporary accommodation, with more than 300,000 people on waiting lists for affordable housing.

At a time when a new market forecast, commissioned from Oxford Economic Forecasting by the National Housing Federation, predicts that London's average house price will soar to nearly £400,000 by 2011, housing associations are doing all they can to help. By building increasing numbers of affordable homes and developing the properties and services they offer to reflect London's changing population, organisations such as Genesis Housing Group, Notting Hill Housing Group and the Peabody Trust are using innovation to help defuse London's housing time bomb.

Genesis Housing Group is a major player in the affordable housing sector, with a development programme of more than 7,000 homes at a cost of £1.4 billion. It has a land-buying team which seeks strategically located land and has built up a land bank worth £140 million. Steve Coleman, Genesis Group development director, says: "We take an entrepreneurial approach to buying land and building homes. We can make decisions quickly and partner with businesses from a range of sectors."

Genesis Housing Group's London projects include Donnington Court, in Brent, a high-density scheme incorporating 70 affordable rented and 50 shared ownership apartments. It is the group's first use of "pepper-potting" in a major housing development, to encourage social inclusion and economic development. Each floor will contain a mix of affordable rented and shared ownership units, ensuring that tenures are mixed throughout the scheme.

Coleman says: "These apartments have excellent space standards and are designed around a central courtyard. Special attention has been given to the design of the homes, which include one, two and three-bedroom flats, and also several disabled units." Genesis Housing Group subsidiaries will join together to provide a new and experimental "onestop-shop" management service including on-site management.

"Other features of the scheme include implementing a robust housing and leasehold management strategy, a good' ecohomes rating, a residents' community room and a dedicated scheme manager," Coleman adds. "A lettings plan has been drawn up with the London Borough of Brent to help ensure there is a good balance between adults and children.

"We have been able to undertake this innovative approach to mixed tenure, high-density living with the support and funding of just under £9 million from the Housing Corporation. Brent Council has also been extremely supportive."

The Wintons, in Calshot Street, Islington, is another Genesis development. Of the 23 new homes, 15 are two-bedroom apartments and 13 of these will be available to buy through a shared ownership scheme, with two suitable for wheelchair users. There are also six five bedroom homes on the site which are available at affordable rents for families.

Throughout the development of this site Genesis worked closely with Islington council and the Housing Corporation, which both gave funding for the scheme. Genesis's ability to deliver a significant development programme quickly and efficiently is recognised by it being awarded £138.9 million in the Housing Corporation's National Affordable Housing Programme 2006/08, the highest allocation in the country.

Other housing associations are also innovating. Notting Hill Housing has pioneered a new shared ownership programme which will allow more Londoners to own their own home.

While traditional shared-ownership schemes normally offer stakes of 25 per cent or above, Notting Hill is selling shares in properties of as little as 10 per cent, to help people on lower incomes take the first step onto the property ladder. The pilot scheme will enable people earning £16,000 to become shared owners, with a stable and fair rent to be paid on the unsold 90 per cent.

Hanover, in Hackney, is taking a similarly forward-thinking approach in providing specialist housing and support for older people in Hackney. It has rebranded its sheltered housing as "Club 55", a club which all residents join.

Sheltered housing schemes are being redeveloped and refurbished to include cinemas, gyms, libraries and arts and crafts rooms. In this way, the housing association aims to meet older people's aspirations for a better quality of life.