Council housing could be built at seven more sites across Haringey.

The land – which includes sites in Hornsey, St Ann’s and Stroud Green – could have the potential to help meet the borough’s goal of providing 1,000 new homes at council rents.

Town hall chiefs agreed to add the sites to the borough’s housing delivery programme at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday (June 16).

They are:

  • Stokley Court, Hornsey
  • Haringey Sea Cadets, 345 White Hart Lane, White Hart Lane
  • Fredrick Morfill House, 69a and b Bounds Green Road, Bounds Green
  • Kerswell Close, St Ann’s
  • Waltheof Gardens, White Hart Lane
  • Chettle Court, Stroud Green
  • Blaenavon Garages, Fortis Green

The decision marks the first stage of an engagement process with residents, after which the council will decide whether development can go ahead.

Cllr Emine Ibrahim, cabinet member for housing and estate renewal, said: “Construction work has now started on 331 council homes across seven sites.

“With the new sites which I am today recommending cabinet approve entering the programme, there will be a site for the development of new council homes in every ward of the borough.”

But during the meeting, some councillors raised concerns over the suitability of the sites.

Cllr Adam Jogee (Labour, Hornsey) said: “The proposal to include Stokley Court is not suitable. Including this site would cause considerable distress to older and vulnerable residents in an already densely populated part of Hornsey.

“The proposal to demolish the site concerns me. How are you going to engage with these older people, most of whom are not online and cannot meet face-to-face due to the pandemic?

“If this is approved, it could be up to nine months before anything happens – nine months of indecision and uncertainty. That simply won’t do.”

Cllr Ibrahim said: “There is no proposal, as such, to demolish anything. All we are doing at this stage is identifying, so we can undertake a consultation with residents to see if something like this would work on this particular site.”

Cllr Ibrahim said the homes needed to be refurbished, and council was exploring the potential for a larger scheme that would allow people to move “straight into brand new accommodation”.

“Nobody is going to have to move,” she added. “If this does go ahead, I would only agree to something going ahead where people stay on site and do not have to move off. If they did move, it would be from their home into a brand-new property. If that is not what they want, that will not happen.”

The housing delivery report also revealed the programme had been set back by the Covid-19 crisis.

It means that while work may have started on the 1,000 homes by March 2022, the number of completions is likely to be “severely curtailed” due to the pandemic.

The report says around 200 homes at council rents will now be completed by May 2022 – although this should increase substantially in the following year, with around 800 homes delivered by the council by May 2023.

The report was unanimously approved by cabinet members.