Hackney Conservative calls for ‘radically normal’ Olympic housing plan

The Olympic Park: a Kensington-on-Lea? Photograph: Hackney Citizen

London Assembly Member and former Hackney councillor Andrew Boff has called for housing on the Olympic Park to be family-sized and green-friendly, in a report dismissed by the Liberal Democrats as ‘ludicrous’ and a wish for a ‘West London suburb’ in Hackney.

In his report published last month (26 September), Mr Boff said the group building the 8,000 new homes should define family housing as ‘four bedrooms or more’.

He also says plans for the Marshgate Wharf neighbourhood should be re-designed by means of a competition, which should invite submissions from ‘visionary’ and green-conscious architects and developers.

“Done well, the development of the Olympic Park has the ability to re-define regeneration in London,” said Mr Boff. “But as some of the plans for the housing currently stand, Londoners are not getting what they have been promised.”

“Despite the future of the Olympic Park being promoted as one of predominantly family-orientated neighbourhoods, the bulk of the housing will still be apartments,” he said.

The Conservative former councillor said that “London needs more, larger, high-quality family-sized homes to combat our deepening housing crisis.” He said these homes “should be built to the highest environmental standards,” and that “this needn’t occur at the expense of the public purse.”

These ideas provoked derision from other parties in Hackney. Simon de Deney, Chair of Hackney Liberal Democrats, speaking to the Hackney Citizen, said: “Certainly we need a mix of housing sizes, but the idea that something needs four bedrooms to qualify as a ‘family’ home is ludicrous.”

“The average size of the British family has been shrinking for years,” said Mr de Deney. “The question is not the size of the units (or rather the number of bedrooms) it is whether they are actually available for people who need them or whether they end up being yet more pricey executive rabbit-hutches and buy-to-lets rented out at extortionate rates.”

“Andrew Boff seems to be dreaming of a West London suburb in Hackney, a ‘Kensington-on-Lea’,” he said.

Mr de Deney also proposed a target of 50% affordable housing for the new development.

Mr Boff’s proposals were also slammed by Hackney Green Party activist Mustafa Korel, who criticised the Conservative government’s record on green and social issues, such as “axeing subsidies for green businesses” and increasing taxes on “the green economy.”

“It’s all very well saying you’re going to build for the community, but I don’t understand how the Olympic legacy will be a success without the backing of the government,” he said.

Mr Korel, who came in second to the Labour candidate in the recent Hackney Central byelection, said Mr Boff’s proposals should have gone further. He suggested more zero carbon developments and a greater use of renewable energies. He also criticised the government’s definition of ‘affordable housing’ as being too vague and subject to interpretation.

Mr Boff said in releasing his report that it “takes courage” to build “terraced houses that look normal and repetitive,” but that “this radically normal approach is one that should be taken in the Olympic Park.” He cited Chobham Manor, the first homes to be built on the Park, as a model for future accommodation there.

“Everyone wants the Olympic Park to be a success, not least because as taxpayers, we all want to see a return on our investment,” he said. “We should work hard to make it the best it can possibly be.”

For more, go to the report, Radically Normal (PDF).