Since 2011, Hackney has led the way in building new council homes. Our innovative, in-house building programme is now followed by other councils across London and the UK.
So far this has delivered more than 1,000 new homes, prioritising council homes for social rent.
Between 2018 and 2022, we started, completed or received planning permission for 1,984 homes – more than half for social rent, shared ownership or Hackney Living Rent.
Our housing projects – 2022 to 2026
Between 2022 to 2026, we’ll start building, and support partners to build, 1,000 new homes for social rent through a mix of methods.
A new programme of council homes
We’llco-deliver with the community a new programme of around 400 homes on 15 council-owned locations on Hackney’s council estates, focusing on underused garages and car parks.
75% of these will be for social rent, funded through a one-off direct council investment, with the remainder sold outright to provide additional funding to the project.
Accelerating our existing programmes for council homes
We’ll also complete 1,146 homes, including 255 social rent homes and 136 shared ownership homes, on existing programmes of council homes. These include:
More than half the homes we build on these programmes are for social rent, shared ownership or Hackney Living Rent, paid for by selling some homes outright.
Buying-back council homes
Since the policy was introduced in 1980, we’ve been forced to sell thousands of council homes at below their value under the government’s right to buy policy.
Over the next four years, we’ll buy back 100 former council homes that we’d been forced to sell under the government’s right to buy policy, returning them to their previous use as genuinely affordable social housing.
We’ll buy back 25 former council homes each year.
Expanding the Mayor of Hackney’s Housing Challenge
The Mayor of Hackney’s Housing Challenge uses income from homes that the council is forced to sell under the government’s right to buy policy to fund the council’s partners to build additional genuinely affordable homes.
We launched this programme because government restrictions prevent the council from using this money itself to fund new council homes, as income from right to buy can only fund up to 40% of the cost of a new and must be spent within a specific time period.
Between 2022 and 2026, we expect to invest around £20 million to pay for around 100 additional homes for social rent built by housing associations in Hackney.
New town centre developments
We’ll use council-owned or partner-owned sites in Hackney’s town centres that have already been identified for development in the council’s Local Plan to build new social rent homes as part of mixed-use developments in our town centres.
Over the next four years, these can deliver an estimated 350 social rent homes.
These include:
Florfield Depot, Hackney Central
333-337 Mare Street & 231-237 Graham Road, Hackney Central
55 Morning Lane (Tesco site), Hackney Central
1-7 Dalston Lane & 1-7 Ashwin Street, Dalston
Former CLR James Library, 16-22 Dalston Lane & 62 Beechwood Road, Dalston
2-16 Ashwin Street & 11-15 Dalston Lane, Dalston
Ash Grove bus garage site
Lea Bridge roundabout, Clapton
This number is an indicative estimate based on calculations in Hackney’s Local Plan about the overall capacity and tenure mix of these sites. We’re in the early stages of developing detailed plans for these sites and routes to deliver these, which will be informed by extensive engagement with residents and the community.
Our housing projects – 2018 to 2022
Between 2018 and 2022, the council started, completed or received planning permission for 1,984 homes. These projects are at various stages of delivery and, once they are all complete, will include 613 homes for social rent, 24 homes for Hackney Living Rent and 319 homes for shared ownership, with 1,028 homes sold outright to help pay for them.
Between 2011 and 2018, the council completed 660 new and refurbished homes, including 360 for social rent and 64 for shared ownership, with 236 for outright sale to help pay for them in the absence of government funding for social housing.
We prioritise solving Hackney’s housing crisis and addressing the climate emergency. Our housebuilding programme helps increase the number of trees and improve biodiversity.
To protect existing trees, plants, and landscapes, our new housing developments mainly focus on underused land like car parks, depots, and garages. We also plant more trees and enhance public spaces to improve biodiversity and make outdoor areas more enjoyable.
Our house building programmes supported by the Mayor of London, includes a £17.5m grant as part of the 2021 to 2026 Affordable Homes Programme (AHP).
In line with the conditions of this funding, we’ve published an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) action plan. The action plan sets out how we’ll embed these values when we build new homes.
Hackney is facing an unprecedented housing crisis. Today, thousands of families are waiting for a council home. More than 3,000 households are living in hostels and other unsuitable temporary accommodation. Over a quarter of households in Hackney are part of the ever-growing number of private renters, where average rents have rocketed to nearly £2,000 for a two bed home.
That’s why we’ve led the way in delivering a new generation of high-quality council housing in the borough, prioritised for local families. Despite the huge challenges caused by Brexit, the coronavirus pandemic, and the increased cost of building, we started, completed or received planning permission for nearly 2,000 new homes between May 2018 and May 2022.
We’re not ready to stop there. We’re developing plans for even more new homes beyond May 2022 as part of our ambitions to deliver 1,000 new council homes at social rent by 2026.
How are we building council homes?
The council has developed a pioneering cross-subsidy model, through which more than half of the homes the council have built have been for genuinely affordable council social rent, shared ownership, or Hackney Living Rent. The remainder sold outright to fund them in the absence of government funding.
We still need to sell some homes to pay for much-needed council housing, but we know that we need to maximise the number of homes that we build that are available at the most affordable social rent.
As part of our commitment to starting 1,000 new homes for social rent between 2022 to 2026, we’ve agreed more direct council investment that will mean 75% of homes in a new programme of council housing are available for social rent.
This is part of a range of ways of delivering new council homes, through which we will start work on 1,000 new council homes between 2022-26:
a new programme of council homes (at least 300 social rent homes)
accelerating existing house building plans (255 new social rent homes)
buying-back former council homes (100 new social rent homes)
reinvesting income from right to buy sales to fund housing association partners (100 new social rent homes)
incorporating social housing in mixed-use town centre developments (350 new social rent homes
What do you mean by council homes for social rent?
By council homes for social rent, we mean homes built and managed by the council, or delivered by our partners for families on the council’s housing waiting list, and available at traditional social rent levels.
We do not mean homes built for ‘Affordable Rent’ which can be priced at up to 80% of market rates and are not genuinely affordable in Hackney.
The average rent for a council home for social rent is just £107.59 per week. This is generally around five times less than in the private sector.
What types of homes do we build?
Our priority is to build genuinely affordable homes for local people. The homes we build are:
traditional council homes at social rents – these are allocated to families on the council’s housing waiting list, prioritised for existing tenants most affected by house building projects
shared ownership homes – helping first-time buyers living or working in Hackney
Hackney Living Rent homes – support private renters struggling with rising rent and who want to save for a new home, with rents calculated at a third of local incomes.
We also build outright sale homes, sold at market rate to help pay for genuinely affordable homes in the absence of government funding for social housing.
What other improvements can new homes bring?
Since 2018, our house building programme has also helped to provide the high-quality facilities and infrastructure that residents in Hackney deserve, including three brand new secondary schools and the state-of-the-art new Britannia Leisure Centre.
Our smaller projects can also benefit existing residents on estates too, from modern commercial or community spaces within new developments to improved public and green areas that residents and the whole community can enjoy.
We work with existing residents across our house building projects to ensure we’re delivering on tailored improvements and make sure they’re the first to benefit from regeneration.
Do you sell homes to overseas investors instead of local people?
Our in-house sales team, Hackney Sales, markets homes to local buyers first. By managing sales ourselves, rather than leaving it to a developer, we have shown that homes can be sold locally to owner-occupiers who have a stake in their community.
For example, at the first phases of the Kings Crescent regeneration project in Stoke Newington, 97% of homes for outright sale went to owner-occupiers, and none were sold overseas.
How do I apply for one of the homes you are building?
Any secure council tenants whose home will be demolished are automatically entitled to the right to return to a new home on their estate.
Under our keeping communities together policy, tenants living near to some of our new developments also have first dibs on new homes – it’s only fair when they’ve put up with the disruption of construction.
All other new council homes for social rent go to those in highest priority on the council’s housing waiting list. For more information on this, and to apply to join the register, read the housing options and advice pages.
If you’re interested in Hackney Living Rent, shared ownership or outright sale, visit Hackney Sales for more information on how to apply.
Are you demolishing homes?
Most of our new house building projects focus on making the most of existing council land to build much-needed new social housing without impacting existing homes, also providing benefits for existing residents such as new facilities and improved public spaces.
We are also delivering on long-standing commitments to provide high quality new homes for existing tenants in some projects where the current homes don’t meet modern standards and are uneconomical to refurbish.
In these cases, we always offer secure council tenants the right to return to a brand new home on their estate and give leaseholders a fair deal and the opportunity to buy a new home – as well a full package of compensation and support for the disruption.
Are you building on green spaces?
We build our projects on council-owned land where homes already are, or were before. We also build on underused land where things like disused depots, boiler houses or offices are.
We take into account spaces set aside for development that are temporarily used by the community when planning to build on them. The community uses these spaces for things like food growing or as a makeshift play space. We’ll always look to re-provide that as part of any new project with better facilities.
We’ve also committed to delivering an improvement and a net increase in trees across all our house building projects.
Why don't you focus on improving existing homes rather than building new ones?
We’re doing both. We invest hundreds of millions of pounds every year in maintenance and improvements to the thousands of council homes in the borough.
Where possible, we’ll also invest in existing homes as part of regeneration projects.
At Kings Crescent, we’ve refurbished some properties – adding balconies and other facilities – as well as building modern, high-quality homes.
How will we ensure local people benefit?
Our house building programme isn’t about luxury flats or overseas investors – it’s about building genuinely affordable homes for those most in need of somewhere to live, with priority going to local people first.
We know you’ll judge us by what we actually do. From holding meaningful engagement on any proposals to ensuring local people are first to benefit, our Residents’ Charter sets out the promises the council will make to you, and the rights and guarantees you are entitled to if new homes are to be built where you live.