Waltham Forest turns former garage site into affordable homes

21 affordable homes and a commercial space have been completed at Central Parade, Walthamstow

Eastfield House, consisting of new affordable homes at Central Parade, Walthamstow were officially opened by Cllr Grace Williams, Leader of Waltham Forest Council and Cllr Ahsan Khan, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Housing and Regeneration on 8 June 2023. The former run-down garage area behind the existing housing at Central Parade is now the site of Eastfield House, which consists of 21 affordable homes and includes a 167sqm flexible commercial space that will be leased by the Council. 

Below: Cllr Williams and Cllr Khan open the new building with members of the project team.

One of the first housing projects undertaken by Waltham Forest to complete this year, the scheme is 100% affordable with 11 homes for social rent and eight for shared ownership homes in Eastfield House.

Former office space in the existing Central Parade building has also been converted into two new four-bedroom family homes for social rent.

The new Eastfield House building, designed by architects Gort Scott, includes courtyard space for new and existing residents to use, bin stores for new and existing commercial and residential tenants, and CCTV, improving safety and security.

The new homes, built with sustainability in mind, include solar roof panels to provide electricity. Each home has a systems efficiency class heat rating of A+++, and an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of B or above to keep both carbon emissions and heating costs down.

The completion comes just a month after a successful funding bid to the Greater London Authority (GLA) Affordable Housing Programme 2021 to 2026, was secured to enable the tenure of the whole scheme to be affordable.

Cllr Khan said: “I’m proud to celebrate the completion of the Eastfield House project at Central Parade, the first completely affordable housing schemes Waltham Forest has completed this year. It’s incredible that we’ve managed to turn a former garage site into much-needed new, high-quality, affordable homes for our residents right in the heart of Walthamstow. A project like Eastfield House shows how hard we’re working to deliver on our plans to build more affordable homes and invest in opportunities that meet the needs of residents.”

Susie Hyden, Associate Director at Gort Scott, said: “Building on the success of the ground floor spaces in Central Parade and taking cues from the celebratory Festival of Britain architecture of the listed building, the new mixed-use Eastfield House completes the high street urban block, delivering workspace and much needed affordable housing in the centre of Walthamstow. We hope that a community will thrive here and support the ongoing success of Walthamstow town centre.”

Steve McMahon, Operations Director of Thomas Sinden, said: “We would like to thank the London Borough of Waltham Forest for entrusting us with this important undertaking and to the local community for their patience and support throughout the construction process. This achievement would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of our team, who demonstrated exemplary craftsmanship and professionalism at every stage of the project.”

Photo: Cllr Williams meets a resident moving into the building.

The appointed contractors for the build, Thomas Sinden, brought over half a million pounds to the area by employing residents and working locally to create more opportunities for Walthamstow. The process created the equivalent of six full-time local jobs, employed 17 residents, provided four-week placements to local students, 287 weeks of apprenticeship training on the project, donations to local community groups, and direct spending with local suppliers to help boost the local economy.

Residents can look forward to moving into their new homes soon, as well as see more improvements to the façade of the Grade II listed Central Parade building this summer following the successful £17.2m Levelling Up Fund bid submitted by the Council to improve Walthamstow.

Part of the government funding will be used to improve public spaces along Hoe Street and enhance some of the area’s cultural assets, including Central Parade.

The improvements to Central Parade will include the replacement of existing lighting fittings for the ground floor canopy, above all existing shops with higher quality optics, enhancements to the lighting of the decorative mosaic façade facing Hoe Street, and improvements to the lighting of the clock tower canopy.