Park View residents and the Tribune’s front-page story from May last year

RESIDENTS say they are outraged as a new-build scheme on their estate reaches its fifth year of construction.

Promises by the council to build the new flats on the Park View estate in Highbury were welcomed when they were first made, but neighbours say the endless delays have left them with little confidence in the Town Hall’s ability to deliver on those promises.

Last year, then-housing chief Diarmaid Ward told the Tribune that the homes would be finished in June 2024, but one year later, flats continue to stand unfinished and empty.

Joel Deason, secretary of the Park View’s residents’ association, said: “It’s embarrassing, simply put. It’s horrendously over budget, and horrendously over time, and it’s still not finished.

“It’s like being punched in the guts repeatedly because you’d like to think that someone at some level is competent, but this suggests that rank incompetence stretches right to the top.”

Councillors have repeatedly stated that they are fulfilling their manifesto pledge to build new homes, and labelled criticism of their efforts as opposition “political point-scoring”.

The Tribune’s front-page story from May last year

But Mr Deason said: “It’s unbelievable that there are these meetings where they congratulate each other on these projects, patting each other on the back for how many homes they deliver. They are applauding themselves for failure.”

According to a letter from the council to residents, one of the buildings, Block A, has not been passed by Building Control. This means that extra features – including a door, a gate, and changes to the paving – are required. The council must now seek planning permission before the work can be done.

Mr Deason said: “A project of that scale, of that complexity, of that value, to not be passed by Building Control after five years is crazy.”

Islington’s housing chief Councillor John Woolf said: “We know that the Park View Estate development has faced delays, which we apologise for.

“A range of factors, including rising construction costs, new building safety regulations, and ongoing inflation have made it arguably more difficult than ever for councils like ours to build new homes, and have contributed to the delay.

“On Wednesday, we handed over the keys to 14 much-needed new homes on the site for social rent, and we’re looking forward to welcoming tenants to their new homes over the next few weeks. This is on top of the completion of a block of four apartments, and another of two apartments, over the winter, all of which are now fully occupied.

“The final block, which will include 11 new council homes, is set to be completed in the next few months.”