Greenwich Council to buy Woolwich Jobcentre for housing?

Greenwich Council are looking into the possibility of acquiring Woolwich Jobcentre on Wellington Street. The building is located by the Town Hall.

The owners have previously sought to convert the building to residential housing under the Government’s permitted rights scheme, as noted in this post from last November.

With the severe shortage of truly affordable housing this is to be welcomed. It will likely save a substantial sum as the council are obliged to house certain individuals and families classified as vulnerable, yet central Government actions have led to an ever-increasing reduction in social housing in which to house people. Families that councils have a statutory duty to house lets not forget. Authorities are thus left in a difficult spot. So they often end up in expensive private lettings, or forced to move many miles away.

Whether the housing would be provided directly or under the council’s arms-length property company ‘Meridian Homestart‘ remains to be seen.

One other building I’ve long thought would go down the resdiential conversion path is Riverside House, which the council have mostly (completely?) vacated yet own the freehold. It seems HM Customs and Probation Services occupy some floors which provide a regular income but I’ve been told some floors are now vacant since departments moved to the Woolwich Centre. Will additional income and/or savings achieved by residential conversion, either directly or by selling to a developer, lead to a sale?

Running a site alone takes time and a fair bit of money. Adverts are far from enough to cover it and my living costs as a private renter.