Boris Johnson opens eco-homes at Sumner Gardens

On the 8th July. The Mayor launched the London Housing Design Guide, for consultation, in Croydon, at a conference organised to discuss his London Housing Strategy, published in May.

After addressing the conference the Mayor visited Sumner Gardens in Croydon, a development of thirteen publicly funded large family sized homes. Sumner Gardens is jointly financed by Croydon Council and the GLA and incorporates many of the principles of the Mayor's Design Guide.

Playle & Partners close involvement in the scheme
Playle & Partners Employer's Agent and Cost Management teams have been involved from a very early stage on the London Borough of Croydon's, Overcrowding Housing Initiative.   

Phase 1 of this development of sustainable homes, involved 32 social housing units across 4 sites, with construction employing 15% renewables and built to an Eco Homes Rating of excellent. Renewables included wind turbines, solar panels, photo voltaics and heat recovery units.

In Phase 2 we managed the design process involved in achieving Code for Sustainable Homes Level 5 across 5 sites, in particular driving up air
tightness and improvement in U values, as well as calculating the additional cost - all 5 have been accepted.

'The finest city in the world deserves the finest housing'
During his visit the Mayor handed over the keys of a new home from the scheme to a family of seven who were previously living in a three bedroom flat. The Mayor wants to reward boroughs, like Croydon, that are meeting the Mayor's key housing priorities, by giving them a greater say over the new homes that are built in their local area.

The Mayor said:
"For too long we have built homes to indecently poor standards - fit neither for Bilbo Baggins nor his hobbit friends - and that is indefensible. The finest city in the world deserves the finest housing for its inhabitants and when we get it wrong it can scar generation after generation.

"Today marks the start of reversing that downward trend and raising the bar, not just in publicly funded, but all new homes built in London. I want design excellence to become the first priority of any plans for new homes and innovation, in the best tradition of this unique city, to be at the forefront of that design."