London council draws up plan to repurpose closed schools into temporary accommodation

The closures have left authorities with buildings sitting empty, and the report said Hackney was now spending around £1m a year on “holding costs” such as caretakers to keep the sites secure due to the high risk of illegal occupation and property deterioration.

The council said it had identified that the two sites could provide up to 101 new homes in total through conversion of the existing historic school buildings and infill development on the playground areas.

This capacity is estimated based on general needs housing space standards, it said. The council is preparing a business case to present to the Department for Education (DfE) for approval for change of use for the sites, which focused on temporary accommodation and affordable housing.

The council also said it had entered into “initial discussions” with the DfE regarding the change of use.

Caroline Woodley, mayor of Hackney, said: “I have always been determined that the schools we have had to close due to falling rolls will not sit empty or be sold to the highest bidder, but instead be repurposed for the benefit of the community and to help address the challenges we face.

“Hackney’s housing crisis is one of the underlying causes of the fall in pupil numbers that has forced these school closures, so it’s right that we now explore opportunities to repurpose some of these sites to help people in need of temporary accommodation and affordable homes.

“We are at a very early stage of this process, considering how these sites could be reconfigured, the permissions needed to convert education use to accommodation and whether we can future-proof the sites should pupil numbers rise again in future.”

The DfE was approached for comment.