Published: Friday 28 April 2023
The halfway mark of the Acklam Road new homes project was celebrated this week with a visit to the site in north Kensington by Cllr Kim Taylor Smith, Lead Member for Grenfell Housing, Housing and Social Investment.
Cllr Taylor-Smith met with the Acklam Road construction team to look at progress on the site, which is next to Swinbrook Estate, and opposite the Al-Manaar Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre, both of whom have been involved in developing proposals.
Acklam Road is one of the Phase 1 sites in the Council’s New Homes Programme and will provide 32 much-needed new homes, including 20 social rent homes alongside market rent homes and community facilities. Four of the two-bedroom homes will be accessible.
The design of the building aims to make it more sustainable, better for the environment and cheaper for the residents to live in. This is done partly with the air-source heating system, which uses no gas and a minimal amount of electricity to create heat from the outside air, even in the middle of winter. We are also installing thermally efficient windows and doors, to make sure the heat generated can be retained within the building.
All these new homes will be tenure blind which means they will offer a similar high standard of design inside and out, whether they are social or market rent.
Work started on site by the contractor Morgan Sindall last summer and is due to be completed with residents expected to move in by next summer.
This is the third site in the first phase of our New Homes Delivery Programme which will go some way to tackling the housing shortage in the borough.
Both Kensal Road, which is delivering 38 new homes – 28 at social rent and 10 at intermediate rent for key workers and Hewer Street which offers 20 new homes to rent - 10 of which will be offered at intermediate rent for key workers, will see residents moving in a matter of months.
Cllr Kim Taylor-Smith said: “The Acklam Road project is a great example of our commitment to providing social rent homes for our residents and ensuring they are able to stay in our borough. It’s good to see that despite the challenging economic climate, we are on track to deliver homes to those who need them the most in our community and I look forward to welcoming residents to our first new social homes built for many years in the coming months at our other phase 1 sites.”
Kian Jafari, Project Manager Morgan Sindall said: “Morgan Sindall is thrilled to be a part of the Acklam Road project to deliver mixed-use apartments and community space to the borough. We are delighted to work alongside the community to create homes that will provide a positive impact for generations to come.
As part of Morgan Sindall Construction’s social commitment in the borough, we are creating jobs and apprenticeship opportunities as well as engaging the wider community to deliver meaningful initiatives such as the Mural Artwork through our construction project. This has been delivered by collaborating with key creative stakeholders including a local school, local artists and our supply chain partners. The Mural Arts project demonstrates our commitment to building strong relationships with the community and highlighting the importance of arts and culture in the area.”
The Council’s New Homes Development Programme is delivering 600 new Council-owned homes across Kensington and Chelsea with at least 300 at social rent.