In September 2021, we held a groundbreaking ceremony to launch construction work on our development of 36 community-led, permanently affordable homes in Church Grove, Lewisham.
The new homes will be available to local people who meet the scheme’s affordability criteria. The scheme was co-designed by a group of future residents working with expert architects, and residents also have the opportunity to fit out flats to earn ‘sweat equity’. Construction is due to be completed in 2023.
The project includes communal food-growing and gardening spaces, a shared laundry and a publicly accessible playground. A Community Hub, built by nearly 100 volunteers in 2019, stands alongside the new homes and will serve as an affordable, eco-friendly work and events space for the local community.
Funding for the scheme has come from a combination of sources including grants from the GLA and the Co-Op Foundation, and loans from Triodos Bank UK, Big Issue Invest and CAF Venturesome. Lewisham Council leased the land to RUSS, and six of the homes will be social rented homes for people on the Council’s housing waiting list. We still have some homes available: see here for more information.
Video credit: Bleu Orbit Media
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