On 24 May 2023 Kingston Council and Countryside Partnerships marked the start of construction on their regeneration of the Cambridge Road Estate in Kingston, which will deliver 2,170 homes of which 45% will be affordable, including a minimum of 114 additional council homes.
Councillor Emily Davey, Portfolio Holder for Housing at Kingston Council, alongside Leader of the Council, Cllr Andreas Kirsch, and Council Chief Executive, Sarah Ireland, broke the first ground on Phase 1 of the project, which will deliver 452 homes, along with representatives from Countryside Partnerships and members of the Cambridge Road Estate Community Board.
Once complete, Phase 1 will deliver 452 homes in total, with 150 of these for council rent and 15 for shared equity/shared ownership. Phase 1A will deliver the first building in the joint venture partnership’s regeneration of the estate and will create 44 new affordable homes for local people, of which 42 will be for council rent and two for shared equity, with completion expected in late 2024. These one, two, three and four-bedroom homes will be surrounded by new landscaping and play space.
Demolition of Phase 1B is also now underway, with the construction of new homes in Phases 1B and 1C to follow. A new community centre, office floorspace and retail/commercial space will also be delivered in the first phase of development, in addition to new public open spaces incorporating 2,289 sq m of play space.
Cllr Emily Davey, Portfolio Holder for Housing, Kingston Council, said: "This occasion is so exciting. We publicly mark the first steps to warmer, safer homes, and an end to overcrowding on this estate.
"I would like to thank all the residents who worked with Countryside, council officers and councillors in planning the new neighbourhood. We asked you for their thoughts, ideas and time and they gave them all generously.
"How this estate is redeveloped is as important as the new estate itself. It is through listening to and working with each other that is going to get us to the prize of 767 new council rent homes, which is 114 more council rent homes than we have at the moment.
"Working together and putting the community at the centre of all that we do will mean we will get a new estate local people so rightly deserve. Thank you."
Daniel King, Managing Director, West London & Thames Valley, Countryside Partnerships, commented: "Together with Kingston Council we are excited to officially begin the construction of our regeneration of the Cambridge Road Estate. Shaped by extensive consultation with residents and stakeholders, we are now able to start delivering new high-quality homes, community facilities and green spaces for the local community, as well as new jobs and local training opportunities.”
The wider regeneration masterplan will deliver 2,170 homes in total, in a mix of flats, maisonettes and houses of various sizes, with 45% affordable (on a habitable room basis) comprising 767 council rented and 174 intermediate tenure homes. The new neighbourhood will include a minimum of an additional 114 council homes.
The masterplan was approved in a successful ballot of residents of the Cambridge Road Estate in March 2020, with an overwhelming majority in favour of the plans to regenerate their neighbourhood.
As part of the planning obligations for the regeneration, Countryside Partnerships and Kingston Council will provide a comprehensive package of skills, employment and training opportunities targeted at the local workforce and to support local businesses.
Countryside Partnerships and Kingston Council have also set up a Community Chest fund which contributes £50,000 per year (and £75,000 in the first year) towards projects that Cambridge Road Estate residents support and value. Four rounds of funding applications each year are judged by the Cambridge Road Estate Community Board who score all applications and make a decision based on the funding available, the highest scores, and the social value priorities.
Some examples of projects and organisations that have been awarded Community Chest funding so far are:
Kingston Centre for Independent Living’s befriending service
Kingston Advocacy Group’s Money Buddy
Intergenerational Music Making
Achieving for Children’s Piper Active Youth Club
Our Parks free kids’ athletics
