Best affordable housing development – £10-20m

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This development, set over two sites in Bethnal Green, east London, comprises 33 homes for social rent in a range of sizes, from one-bedroom flats to four-bedroom houses.

 

Three of the homes are fully wheelchair-accessible, and one is specifically adapted for blind residents. This is housing for those in greatest need, delivered entirely within the public sector by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

 

Every home exceeds national space standards, with layouts that are designed to reduce long-term management and maintenance costs. The layouts are also adaptable, ensuring homes can change with household needs – ensuring lasting affordability through future-proofing.

 

The project creates places for connection and privacy, with open-sided galleries for casual interaction, recessed balconies for private outdoor space and secure, step-free access to all homes. The development also contains heat pumps, solar panels and green roofs, as well as a new 1,000 square metre park designed to bolster biodiversity.

 

The Bancroft Estate demonstrates that affordable, council-led housing can be community-centred, environmentally ambitious and architecturally generous, all within a constrained urban context and a tight budget.

 

The judges said:

“A really good quality, sustainable scheme that has a positive impact on its surrounding area, as well as a clear social purpose. We liked the focus on lived experience and engagement with the local community”