Tenants, councillors, MPs and members of the Greater London Authority gathered today to celebrate the completion of Kidbrooke Park Road, the largest new 100% social housing development in the country.
Part of the Greenwich Builds programme, which is delivering 1,750 new council homes across Royal Greenwich, Kidbrooke Park Road is comprised of 452 one to four-bedroom homes for local people on the council’s housing register. The scheme also brings a nursery, retail space, play parks, hundreds of newly planted trees and an innovative sustainable energy centre.
Cllr Anthony Okereke, Leader of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, said: “We couldn’t be prouder to be creating the homes that every generation deserves, and at a scale that sets the standard for other local authorities to follow.” He added that the scheme had transformed the lives of hundreds of families and individuals by giving them a secure home in a new community.
Cllr Jackie Smith, Deputy Leader and Member for Housing, Greenwich Builds and Estate Regeneration, said: “This flagship council home development shows how we are leading a revival of council home-building after many decades of restrictions on new housing creation by local authorities.”
London’s council-building revival
Tom Copley, Deputy Mayor of London for Housing and Residential Development, said: “London is leading the way nationally on council home building, with half of all new council homes in England built in the capital last year, and more new council homes underway than at any time since the 1970s.”
He added: “The new development at Kidbrooke Park Road is the perfect example of what we’re achieving, with 452 council homes forming the largest single entirely new-build council housing development in the country. We recently announced that 60% of the funding from the first round of the Mayor’s new Social and Affordable Homes Programme will go to London boroughs, and we look forward to that decision delivering even more new council homes in future.”
The scheme was delivered by Durkan Group as the council’s key delivery partner, with HTA Design as architect. Ronan Murphy, CEO of Durkan Group, said it had been a privilege to support the borough in delivering homes that are warm, safe and fit for the future. Simon Bayliss, Managing Partner at HTA Design, said the project showed council housing could be delivered at scale without compromising on architectural ambition.
Part-funded by the Greater London Authority, Kidbrooke Park Road has attracted significant awards recognition, with wins including a Housing Design Award and the New London Architecture Mayor’s Prize, and is currently in the running for a prestigious Royal Institute of British Architects prize.
The completion is a bright spot for Greenwich Builds after a difficult year for the programme: six council housing projects stalled when builder Helix Construct went into administration. Kidbrooke Park Road shows the programme can still deliver at scale — and, with 1,750 homes planned across the borough, it is the largest single piece of that ambition so far. Other major Greenwich schemes, including the Thamesmead DLR extension, are also progressing through their early stages.
Delivered in two phases, the scheme is presented by its design team as one of the most significant social housing projects completed in recent years — not just for its size, but for the neighbourhood built around the homes. The delivery partner pointed to the new public spaces, community infrastructure and social value work with local communities as part of what makes Kidbrooke Park Road a place to live, rather than simply a block of flats. For the hundreds of families moving in, that distinction — a secure home in a community with a nursery, shops, play parks and green space — is the point of the whole programme.
