Ocean Estate development moves ahead

Mayor of Tower Hamlets John Biggs has visited the latest stage of Tower Hamlets’ Ocean Estate redevelopment.

This phase will see the demolition of three outdated blocks (Allonby, Channel and Studland Houses) to allow them to be replaced by 225 new homes, with over half of the new properties being available for affordable rent and shared ownership.

The council has already invested over £8.6M alongside nearly £3.9M from the Mayor of London.

The Mayor was joined on site by representatives from the council’s key development partners; Jacqui Esimaje-Heath, from East Thames Housing Association and Steve Leakey, from Higgins Construction.

Between 2009 and 2013, the Ocean Estate in Stepney has seen more than £220M invested, with 1,200 existing council homes being extensively refurbished.  More than 800 homes have had new kitchens and bathrooms installed, and all benefit from new windows and other refurbishments to the exterior of the buildings.

More than 800 new properties have already been constructed providing new homes for social rent, shared ownership and private sale.

New community facilities have also been created, including a community centre with GP and housing services and space for community groups, and recreational areas.

The development has also provided employment opportunities for residents with more than 75 people offered construction related jobs, with hundreds of residents also working on the project. The Construct Your Career programme has also seen 54 residents graduate with the skills required to pursue a career in the construction industry. Over 30 of these now have permanent jobs in the industry.

Mayor Biggs said: “It’s always great to get on site and see for myself how the transformation of the Ocean Estate is providing real and long lasting improvements for both existing and future new residents to the area.

“The chronic shortage of good quality and affordable housing is one of the biggest challenges we face, so we will continue to do all we can to encourage the development of major housing schemes such as this one.”

Steve Leaky, Managing Director of Higgins Construction said: “We are proud to be part of such an important regeneration project in Tower Hamlets. The redevelopment of Ocean Estate will create a new community where people will want to live, work, play, learn and be proud to be part of.”

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