Town Hall housing chief Cllr Jason Jackson cuts the ribbon on the new Elthorne Estate homes

ALMOST 50 new council homes were unveiled by the Town Hall in Archway this week.

The ribbon for the 46 new homes was cut by Islington’s housing Chief Cllr Jason Jackson on Wednesday, which the Town Hall said would provide “genuinely affordable” homes for families in the borough. Originally planned as a mixed-tenure scheme, the project was altered to make houses council-owned, including those which were previously earmarked for private sale.

Cllr Jackson said: “It’s so heartwarming to see residents moving into these fantastic new homes on the Elthorne Estate. We know how challenging the housing crisis is, and how it’s affecting people across our borough.

“We’re committed to doing all we can to support local people, and each and every one of these 46 properties represents a new home for Islington families. This is just one example of how we’re making it happen for our residents, by working with the GLA to deliver more high-quality genuinely affordable homes to those who need them most.”

The homes were backed by more than £4m from the Greater London Authority and over £13m of council funding.

Earlier this month, a motion was tabled at a council meeting by the Green group, who challenged the Mayor’s emergency housebuilding measures imposed across the city. The GLA’s housebuilding programme suggested that developer’s affordable homes targets may be slashed to just 20 per cent.