A new 100% affordable housing development has been completed in Deptford, delivering 56 new homes to help tackle the housing crisis.

1 Creekside is made up of 22 social homes and 34 shared ownership homes – the first shared ownership homes to be delivered by Lewisham Council.

Shared ownership is a form of affordable housing where buyers purchase an initial share of between 25% and 75% of a property and pay rent on the remaining share. The scheme is aimed at residents who are trying to get onto the housing ladder, with priority given to people already living and working in Lewisham.

The 22 social homes have been rented out to families on the Council’s housing waiting list, helping families out of temporary or overcrowded accommodation. With over 10,000 families currently on the housing waiting list, delivering new social homes through the Building for Lewisham programme is a vital part of the Council’s work to tackle the housing crisis and help improve local people’s lives.

Planning permission was originally granted for a scheme at 1 Creekside that delivered a smaller number of affordable homes, before Lewisham Council acquired the land in 2020. The Council’s intervention enabled the development to become 100% affordable housing, with an increase in the number of social homes and shared ownership homes provided.

Damien Egan, Mayor of Lewisham, visited the new development on Tuesday and met with some of the building’s new residents. 

Damien Egan, Mayor of Lewisham, said: “I’m pleased we’ve been able to deliver a high-quality, 100% genuinely affordable housing development that includes homes for families on our housing waiting list and for local people who have been struggling to get onto the housing ladder. Tackling the housing crisis requires innovative solutions that meet the different needs of our residents and thanks to the Council’s acquisition of this project, we’ve been able to do just that.”

About 1 Creekside

1 Creekside includes a mix of one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom flats, as well as a communal roof terrace and commercial space at street level. The site was previously occupied by a former industrial building and a terraced house in disrepair.

The building was designed by Metropolitan Workshop in a warehouse style, reflecting Deptford’s historic character, and the configuration of the apartments has deliberately aimed to maximise the number of dual-aspect homes and provide as much light as possible.

In line with the Council’s mission to increase the use of sustainable transport, the development is car-free, with residents benefiting from discounted use of car club rental and secure cycle storage. Heating and hot water is provided through a combination of air source heat pumps and a communal boiler, reflecting the Council’s commitment to sustainable housing and the aim of making Lewisham a net-zero borough by 2030.

Building new social homes

Lewisham Council is delivering new social homes across the borough through its housebuilding programme – Building for Lewisham – and by pushing private developers to include more social housing in new developments.

Between 2018 and 2022, more than 1,200 new social homes were completed or had started on site in the borough, helping tackle the housing crisis facing Lewisham and the rest of London.