Hackney Council plans to build 600 new homes in Dalston

If you’re living in Dalston or anywhere else in Hackney, listen up. In a major plan to redevelop the area over the next 15 years, Hackney Council has laid out a blueprint to build 600 new homes to tackle the area’s housing shortage. At least half of them will be ‘genuinely affordable’ and there will also be a £1 million investment in Ridley Road Market. 

It’s all part of the so-called Dalston Plan, which sets out the council’s vision for the area based on the views of around 5,000 local people. A big part of the plan focuses on safeguarding treasured community spaces like the Dalston Curve Garden and Ridley Road – which is crucial, since gentrification is already well and truly underway in the borough (an Amazon Fresh has just popped up next to Pret on Kingsland High Street, for crying out loud). It also sets out new sites for council homes, new rules on tall buildings, plans to improve sustainable transport, and new support for the arts, culture and night-time economy. 

But let’s take a closer look at these new homes. ‘Genuinely affordable’, eh? According to the council’s website, that could mean all sorts of different things. For their social-rent council homes, ‘genuinely affordable’ means that the average rent will be £97 per week, five times less than renting privately. For living-rent homes (a more affordable solution to private renting), they will be set at a third of local incomes, and shared ownership homes will be ‘more affordable than renting the equivalent home privately’. Phew! 

A lack of affordable accommodation in Hackney has seen the current demand for social housing soar. More than 13,000 families are on the council’s housing waiting list, more than 1,300 of which are in hostels or other temporary accommodation, with 4,700 households identified as in urgent need of a new home.

Time Out spoke to John Kelsey, who is an affordable housing expert and associate professor of construction, project management and economics at UCL, to find out more about the practicalities of the project.

‘There is a big housing crisis in London and the need for new housing is urgent,’ he said. ‘It is therefore good that more houses will be built in Dalston. However, at an average of 2.5 persons per dwelling, 600 homes over 15 years will house 1,500 people which is slightly more than the projected population increase in seven years (1,335).’

Meanwhile, Mayor of Hackney Philip Glanville said: 

‘With many different landowners in the town centre not all of this change can be controlled by the council, but I’m determined to do everything to ensure a fair recovery from the pandemic in which local people and businesses are the first to benefit and the things that we all love and make Dalston special are protected. Housing is a high priority for Dalston, and we’ve used this plan to set out clear rules around where and how new homes can be built without harming the area’s unique character, with at least 50 percent of new homes genuinely affordable to local people.’ 

The council has set out ten council-owned and private ‘opportunity sites’ where the 600 homes could be built, in addition to new community areas and more than 14,000 square metres of retail and office space. All of the sites are concentrated in the centre: Kingsland High Street, Dalston Lane, the Kingsland Shopping Centre and Ridley Road. Details for the new homes are still limited and the £1 million investment to safeguard Ridley Road Market should start later this year. 

Residents can have their say in a consultation running until October 1, so it’s worth piping up if you have anything you want to voice about the draft objectives and opportunity sites.

Find out more about the Dalston Plan and have your say in the consultation (open until October 1) here. Residents can also email feedback at planmaking@hackney.gov.uk or call 020 8356 1739.

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