Waterloo Estate-‘Vital fire safety legislation is met-but this cannot mean a reduction in the truly affordable social rent units’, Chair of Dagenham and Rainham Labour.

Earlier this month The Waterloo Road and Queen Street site in Romford, where a joint venture between Havering Council and Wates Residential aims to deliver 1380 new homes, ground to a halt. Construction was paused due to new incoming fire safety regulations which require residential developments over 30 meters to have a second staircase.

The landmark scheme which will replace 270 council homes on the site was contentious in the community as it passed through the planning process, with many commenting about the density and lack of infrastructure to support new and existing residents. The development is set to provide over the 35% baseline of affordable homes with a 60:40 split consisting of market rate price and submarket rate level which will be further broken down into shared ownership, affordable, and social rent.

Andrew Achilleos, Chair of Dagenham and Rainham Labour Party commented on the recent developments. He told the Havering Daily: “I was interested to read that the Waterloo Road development has been put on hold in a correct and appropriate response to the new regulations. This vital fire safety legislation is part of the ongoing response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy and must be implemented. Undoubtedly this will mean a redesign of the scheme, and a fresh planning application will need to be submitted. What it cannot mean is a reduction in the 212 (approx. 15% of the scheme) truly affordable social rent units on the development that local people desperately need.

“I fundamentally believe that regeneration should be about improving the offer and creating neighbourhoods where local people can thrive. Council homes should be replaced like-for-like on regeneration projects, as anything less is social cleansing. Despite the ‘right to return’ many social rent tenants will not be able to afford so called ‘affordable’ rent levels, which is why it is vital that none of the social rent units are lost at Waterloo Road. I don’t want to see families priced out of Romford. I will be keeping an eye on this and will be urging Havering Council to ensure that the scheme delivers for local people, not just the pockets of developers.”

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