Haringey Council has taken a step towards its pledge to build 1,000 council homes by securing two housing sites in the borough.

The sites, in Tottenham and Seven Sisters, will be used to provide 141 council homes – 14 per cent of the total promised by 2022 in Labour’s local election manifesto.

All homes at the Welbourne site, in Tottenham Hale, will be available at council rents after the local authority renegotiated its deal with developer Argent Related.

The Plevna Crescent site, in Seven Sisters, will provide 10 homes at council rents.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday (December 11), council leader Cllr Joseph Ejiofor said: “The securing of homes for Haringey residents is central to what this administration set out to achieve – a target of 1,000 additional council homes over the coming four years.”

Cllr Ejiofor said that under the previous agreement with Argent, a large number of homes at the Welbourne site were due to be shared ownership – a form of affordable housing that requires a deposit.

He said: “This council has different priorities and made it clear that our preferred form of social housing is traditional council homes.

“Following further negotiations with Argent and the lifting of the cap on borrowing, we have been able to secure delivery of 131 council homes at the Welbourne site.”

Haringey's new council leader Joseph Ejiofor Haringey's new council leader Joseph Ejiofor

Cllr Ruth Gordon, Labour member for Tottenham Hale, said a council report suggested the social homes at the Welbourne site would have a lower-quality design specification than those available at market prices.

But council officers denied they would be of lower quality and pointed out that the council had to use certain contractors to provide fittings for its homes.

The council negotiated a different mix of tenures at the 72-home Plevna Crescent site to ensure more homes were available at social rents.

Cllr Emine Ibrahim, cabinet member for housing and estate renewal, said: “This is a small development in Seven Sisters ward; however, it will play an important role in our steps toward 1,000 new council homes.”

Cllr Lucia das Neves, Labour member for Woodside, welcomed the provision of more social rented homes but raised concerns that they were “quite small properties” while the borough badly needs larger homes.

But Cllr Ibrahim said: “Obviously there are a couple of one-bedroom homes, but we do need one beds for young people leaving care, for example.

“While I understand that we do need a bit more family accommodation, in here we do have five two-bed, two three-bed and one four-bedroom homes.”