Boris Johnson gives £3million green light for Tottenham extra-care housing scheme

Mayor of London Boris Johnson has approved a £3million grant to guarantee a development of 50 homes for people with disabilities or health needs in the heart of Tottenham.
Protheroe House, a former sheltered housing scheme in Chesnut Road, Tottenham, was sold by Haringey Council to One Housing Group last October. It will finally be redeveloped following the cash injection from the Mayor.

Its new owners will build a scheme offering “state-of-the-art supported living for older and disabled people aged 50 and over” offering dining rooms, health and fitness facilities and hobby or computer rooms.

The announcement today is the biggest single grant from the £29.3million first phase of the Mayor’s Care and Supported Housing Fund, delivered with the Department of Health.

It means that plans first mooted three years ago will finally be realised. In December 2010 Haringey Council’s cabinet agreed to develop a block of 45 extra-care homes on the site after deciding it was not cost-effective to bring Protheroe House up to the government’s Decent Homes standard. But the plans stalled and the site was sold to One Housing Group, which was involved in The Trees and Roden Court extra-care schemes in the west of the borough, which won prestigious design awards.

The Mayor’s programme is intended to kick-start industry into addressing the need for more specialised accommodation as the proportion of older Londoners increases.

Mr Johnson said: “It is essential that we increase the supply of purpose-built, quality homes for older and disabled Londoners if they are to have a real choice in how and where they live.

“These affordable homes will help hundreds of Londoners in Haringey remain in their own communities and, with a greater demand for quality and design, raise the benchmark for how this type of specialised housing is delivered in the future.”

Cllr Bernice Vanier, cabinet member for adults, said at the time of the sale to One Housing Group: “This will offer modern care and supported housing, building on our success of ensuring older and disabled residents the very best, in line with our commitment to transforming social care in the borough.

“I’d like to thank residents of Protheroe House, who have shown such patience while we’ve taken the time to make sure we create a project which meets everyone’s needs.

“Now we have a preferred provider we can really start making progress on providing a well-designed development, which gives older people real control and maximum choice over how and where they live.”