Mayor meets new residents of Longfield Crescent in Forest Hill

The 27 new council homes at Longfield Crescent includes two three-storey blocks consisting of 14 one- and two-bedroom flats and 13 three-bedroom family houses for social rent.

One of the residents who has moved into the new properties is Mohamed Hassan. Mohamed and his wife Khadija spent four years living in temporary accommodation across London with their two daughters and two sons, living in Enfield and East London among other locations. They now have a modern three bedroom house in the development. Describing the impact of the new home, Mohamed said, ‘It’s made quite a lot of difference. It helped us as a family, we’ve settled down here as for four years we’ve been going up and down to different places. To settle down in one place is quite big and I’m very happy – thanks to Lewisham Council.’

Another new resident is Julie. She previously lived in a three-bedroom property provided by housing association Housing for Women, but was able to downsize into a new one-bedroom flat at Longfield Crescent. Julie enjoys the privacy of her new flat, describing it as ‘My own little heaven.’

The new homes will be managed on our behalf by our housing partner, Lewisham Homes. Delivering new social homes and helping families move out of temporary and emergency housing into a home of their own is a core part of Lewisham Homes’ mission.

The mayor was accompanied on the visit by:

• Councillor Paul Bell, Cabinet Member for Housing
• Ainsley Forbes, Chair of Lewisham Homes’ board
• Margaret Dodwell, Chief Executive of Lewisham Homes
• Lis Rodrigues, Director of Development
• Councillor Peter Bernards, ward councillor for Forest Hill.

Damien said: ‘It was great to meet Mohamed and his family, and Julie, to see their new council homes. We’re delighted that Lewisham is building again, with the first new council homes in a generation. These 27 new homes in Forest Hill provide social rents at lifetime tenancies. We’re pressing on to build many more homes across Lewisham, so we can house more families on our housing waiting list.’

Ainsley Forbes said: ‘It’s great to see families who have been in temporary accommodation moved into high-quality, well-designed homes that are affordable to rent and energy efficient. It’s beautiful to see people being happy in their new homes, enjoying the benefits of good quality housing - and we plan to build more.’