New Camden taskforce launched to respond to housing crisis
A new housing taskforce has been set up to help shape the future of housebuilding in Camden and support those most affected by the national housing crisis.
Camden has formed a new borough-wide housing taskforce to respond to the national housing crisis which has led to more than 180,000 Londoners living in temporary accommodation.
The Housing Taskforce, the first of its kind in Camden and Inner London, will assess current housebuilding programmes and review what types of homes Camden needs to prioritise, including Council homes, housing association homes and those in the private sector, to respond to growing local need and help communities to thrive.
Co-chaired by Cabinet Member Councillor Nasrine Djemai and Dame Karen Buck, the taskforce brings together the Council, housing experts, developers, members of the private rented sector and community representatives to challenge and strengthen housebuilding programmes across Camden and contribute to the London-wide response to the housing crisis.
There will be four taskforce meetings between October and January, with a final report and recommendations due to go before Cabinet in spring next year.
One in 50 Londoners are currently in temporary accommodation and in Camden there are over 8,000 people on our housing waitlist, with 70% of families in Council homes living in overcrowded conditions. We must take action to urgently build more high-quality, affordable housing and address the ongoing housing crisis in Camden and across London.
That’s why I called for this Housing Taskforce to be commissioned, to bring together the expertise, ideas and partnerships we need to deliver more of the right homes for our residents. This housing taskforce, the first of its kind in the borough, will not only help ensure we build more high-quality affordable homes for communities, but that these homes are the best for our residents, addressing growing local need and supporting those most impacted by the national housing crisis.
In Camden, we are working hard to build thousands of new homes through our Community Investment Programme, and by forming this taskforce and working alongside industry experts in both public and private housing as well as local community members, we can develop a strong borough-wide response to help those who need it most.
As part of a £2.3 billion investment into Camden’s Community Investment Programme (CIP), the Council aims to build 4,850 new homes, including 1,800 for social rent. So far, CIP has delivered 1,780 homes, 70 per cent of which are affordable.
Find out more about Camden's Housing Delivery Taskforce
Group photo caption:
- (Top left to right) Stevan Tennant, Managing Director Development, Ballymore Group, Bek Seely, Chair of Euston Housing Delivery Group, Founder Place Partners and Councillor Adam Harrison, Cabinet Member for Planning and a Sustainable Camden
- (Middle left to right) Bulbul Ali, Senior Development Manager, Places for People, Rob Beacroft, Director, Lateral, Amarjit Bains, Programme Director for Homelessness, Bridges Outcomes Partnerships and Councillor Sagal Abdi-Wali, Cabinet Member for Better Homes
- (Bottom left to right) Councillor Nasrine Djemai, Cabinet Member for New Homes and Community Investment, Dame Karen Buck and Milli-Rose Rubin, Founder, CrossWord Lyric