The Mayor of London is investing in houses which are delivered with only the bare essentials at a fraction of the market rate.
Sadiq Khan has agreed to invest £500,000 to deliver 22 custom-built new and permanently affordable homes for first-time buyers across three sites in Enfield.
The project will be delivered by Naked House – a group of Londoners who strip developments back to their bare essentials allowing communities to design and shape the homes they live in. This is the first time a community-led housing group has received funding from City Hall.
Naked Homes argues that buyers pay a premium for finishes and fittings that they don’t necessarily want or need. Their solution is to strip houses back to the bare essentials – saving design and build costs by creating a community of ‘naked’ houses. It’s then down to the people who’ll live there to create the homes they want. Resale costs will be kept low to ensure the naked houses always remain affordable.
There is potential for Naked House to deliver across a further seven sites in the future and the programme is set to be the largest custom-build development in London. It is anticipated building will start in early 2019, with the homes finished and ready to move into by early 2020.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said, “London desperately needs more homes and it’s vitally important we look at all possible ways of building new and genuinely affordable homes to rent and buy.
“Community-led housing offers the chance to build new homes Londoners that want to live in. Londoners should be able to play a leading role in building their own communities, but for too long this has been difficult and they have had no support or access to funding.
“I’m also delighted Naked House is the first group to receive funding and I look forward to seeing more communities across our great city working together to build new and genuinely affordable homes to rent and buy.”
Simon Chouffot, co-founder of Naked House, said, “We’re excited to begin work on our 22 home scheme in Enfield – all of which will be 100 per cent affordable for those on modest incomes, with local residents given priority.
“We want to put people back at the centre of house building – creating well-designed but pared-back homes that residents can adapt and change to suit their needs.
“Support from the GLA has been crucial – ensuring homes are genuinely affordable for those currently priced out of the communities in which they’ve put down roots. We hope this project is the first step towards a new type of housing that will help thousands of Londoners.”
PICTURE CREDIT: Jaksmata
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