Woolwich towers beside the Waterfront near completion
Two further Woolwich towers being built as part of a six-block riverside project are now nearing completion.
It’s certainly a dense area with relatively little gaps between all blocks. In total 764 flats are located within all blocks in this phase of development.
Berkeley Homes are building the towers on what was formerly the Waterfront leisure centre’s car park.
Another area of public land redeveloped is the Callis Yard tower over the road. Plans were also approved to extend the council’s former Riverside House office block into student homes and a hotel.
One big question now is what happens to the Waterfront upon closure later this year.
The borough has a housing crises – like many other boroughs across London and the wider country – and selling land off is no guarantee anything is built quickly. It may also see fewer low cost homes.
Not a good look when the council is paying vast sums due to a lack of social housing which is seeing cuts on services proposed left, right and centre. In recent years the council may have looked to use their Meridian home start company to build homes and reinvest profits from private sales thus cross-subsidising truly low cost housing.
Yet recent public projects – such as new housing behind the forthcoming leisure centre – didn’t take that option so very few council homes are being built. Out of nearly 500 dwellings due on site there’s a net gain of just 24.
With more than 2,000 households in expensive private temporary housing currently funded by Greenwich Council including the use of hotels, 24 social homes barely makes a dent.
Next steps
Upon completion of six blocks beside the Thames the next Berkeley development site is likely to be nearby Ropeyards, where 660 homes were approved last year.
Other Berkeley Homes sites include that above the eastern end of Woolwich Elizabeth line station in a joint venture with TfL.
It’s now well over a decade since plans were first revealed to build on site. Nothing has begun.
