SME companies are set to be involved in a multi-million-pound regeneration of London’s largest housing estate.
Newham council wants the regeneration of the 1960s Carpenters Estate near Stratford station to support local businesses as well as provide high quality reasonably priced homes.
Mayor Cllr Rokhsana Fiaz said: “We have got a housing crisis, and we’ve got to house people in genuinely affordable homes.”
The estate is across 28 acres and includes three high-rise blocks of 434 homes and 276 homes in low-rise blocks and terraced homes.
Hawkins Browns were announced this week as the lead architects to design 500 new homes and refurbish the Lund Tower as well as design new commercial space and public open spaces.
Thorough designs are underway to submit a detailed planning application for phase two by Autumn 2025.
The masterplan for the estate’s redevelopment includes refurbishment of 314 homes and over 1800 new homes half of which will be affordable. More than half of the estate’s 710 homes, including the Denison Point residential tower, will be knocked down.
Over 10,000 square metres of commercial space including a new crafts college, cafes, restaurants, shops and workspace.
Fifteen-minute neighbourhood at the heart of the design
The newly designed estate will have houses and maisonettes at its centre with taller buildings towards the edge. It will offer better-connected streets with a clear route to Stratford station supporting a 15-minute neighbourhood.
Residents overwhelmingly backed the masterplan produced by the Newham council’s housing company Populo with their input in a ballot held in 2021.
The capital’s average new home delivery rate is nearly 40,000 a year. In March the previous government estimated that this would need to increase to 62,300 new homes to tackle housing needs.
Brokers Hank Zarihs Associates said commercial development finance lenders were keen to see greater involvement of local SME builders in regeneration schemes such as the Carpenter Estate.