The Mayor of London has approved Sutton Council’s bid to be one of London’s 20 new Housing Zones. The status is another boost for the council as it aims to stimulate housebuilding in Sutton. It is in addition to the council’s own house-building company which will build new housing for the first time since 1989.

The Sutton One Housing Zone, which incorporates Sutton Town Centre and Hackbridge, has identified 12 key sites for residential development – seven in the town centre and five in Hackbridge. Eight of these sites have been identified as priorities and will deliver more than 1,600 new homes, around a quarter of which will be affordable housing, with smaller one- and two-bedroom units in Sutton Town Centre and family housing on some of the development sites in Hackbridge.

Housing Zones are a collaborative effort between the Greater London Authority (GLA), the Government and London boroughs to streamline approval processes and speed up development in target areas where it has previously been held back, locking up valuable brownfield land when it could be used to meet London’s growing need for housing.  Housing Zone designation means Sutton will receive £175,000 of grant funding for pump-priming work to pre-develop the priority sites in preparation for the construction of new housing, including around 400 affordable homes.

The Sutton One Housing Zone area incorporates key development sites from just south of Sutton railway station and through into the town centre and northwards to the North Sutton gas-holder site. The area continues over to the Hackbridge area of the borough as this includes several development sites that complement the housing growth in the town centre area.

Cllr Jayne McCoy, Chair of the Housing, Economy and Business Committee at Sutton Council, said:

“We are doing everything we can to stimulate housebuilding in Sutton, particularly much-needed family housing. We have already set up our own housing development company to build council and private housing, and now our successful bid for Housing Zone status will create even more opportunities. Housing Zone designation will bolster the level of confidence by landowners and potential developers in our commitment to bring several opportunity sites forward for development. Sutton is one of 18 out of 20 promised Housing Zones across London that have been announced by the GLA, bringing the total number of homes to be created to just under 51,000, of which nearly one third will be affordable.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson said:

“We have worked very hard to reach our goal of 50,000 homes, and we’ve done it with two more Housing Zones to go. This scheme has proven extremely popular with boroughs, who have clearly been looking for just that extra bit of assistance in revving up their housebuilding to answer clear demand from Londoners. I could not be more pleased at the progress of this innovative scheme and the real outcomes it has delivered for our city.”