Checking progress on site on Tuesday, Councillor Mead, cabinet member for housing, was joined by contractor Osborne which is helping the council develop three innovative schemes.
The first phase will see 32 three, four and five bed family homes built in Sumner Gardens, Broad Green – the first site to start construction - and in Dunley Drive and Frensham Drive, New Addington.
Built to meet robust eco standards, the high-spec homes will be equipped with the environmentally friendly features such as solar panels, wind turbines and rainwater harvesting.
Plans for a second tranche of homes are already underway and the council hopes that, with the setting up of its Special Purpose Vehicle to help it get grant funding, it will be able to continue to build more homes in the borough in future.
Cllr. Mead said: “I believe that the quickest and most effective way of addressing the acute housing shortage and overcrowding in the borough is through investment in council housing. Croydon has an excellent reputation for looking after its tenants and, as a strong local authority, we should be given the means to construct good quality, eco-friendly, council homes. Phase one of our new housing building programme is just a start. My intention is for us to be building a hundred homes in the borough every year and we’re now working toward achieving this ambitious target in the future.”
Nicola Dibb, of Osborne Homes Division, said: “We are delighted to be constructing this innovative project for the London Borough of Croydon. We bring to the scheme a wealth of expertise in sustainable housing, developed since 2005 with our ground breaking Eco demonstration house at the BRE in Watford. We look forward to completing what we know will be a very successful project for all those involved.”
The new house building programme represents a significant landmark for Croydon - it will be the first council housing built in the borough in 20 years.