Campaigners calling on the Mayor of London to stop properties for shared ownership being built at a hospital redevelopment say “residents are being let down”.
The former St Ann’s Hospital site in Tottenham was bought by the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and the Greater London Authority (GLA) in 2018.
The site, which could see up to 800 new homes built on it, will be sold to a private contractor who must meet certain conditions before buying the land – including making 50 per cent of the homes affordable.
As part of these plans, developers can sell homes under the shared ownership scheme, which means residents can own part of their house by paying a deposit and through monthly rent payments.
But campaigners from St Ann’s Redevelopment Trust (StART) say selling houses for shared ownership undermines the concept of affordable homes as residents do not have the savings to pay for the initial deposit.
A Freedom of Information (FOI) request by StART revealed 48 per cent of residents in Haringey have no savings or are in debt, which the group says demonstrates residents could not afford any deposits on homes.
David King, who has been a member of StART since 2014, said: “Shared ownership is not affordable and unavailable for the majority of residents.”
“We have a housing crisis and a bold decision needs to be made to provide for the needs of the people.
“We want the GLA to demonstrate that this a community development.”
StART is involved in the development at St Ann’s by putting forward the voices of residents to the GLA to ensure local housing needs are met.
The group said it has tried to arrange meetings with Mr Khan and the GLA but many of these have been cancelled.
Mr King said: “We have never got the point about having a discussion about it with the GLA, it is a little bit frustrating.
“We are beginning to wonder what we are bringing to the process and we feel like the views of residents are being disregarded. We don’t feel like we are being listened to.
“Residents are being let down.”
He group also raised concerns that if properties are sold under the shared ownership scheme they will be sold on afterwards for a higher price which means housing in the future homes will become more expensive instead of affordable.
Mr King added: “We want the site which to be an asset for the community and gives benefits for people in the future.”
City Hall have been contacted for comment.
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