Better Homes Enfield

The local plan examination has revealed another major problem with Enfield Council's flagship development.

First they forgot about land they own enfielddispatch.co.uk/missing-site...

Now it seems they also forgot about the underground water mains which limit what can be built.

Some tenants can now force landlords to make their home liveable. What about the thousands who can’t? | Kwajo Tweneboa Awaab’s law imposes new duties on those who own social housing. Millions who rent privately, or are in temporary accommodation, remain unprotected, says housing activist Kwajo Tweneboa

"This isn’t just a housing issue – it’s a public health emergency.

"Fixing homes isn’t just a moral duty; it’s an economic necessity.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

“There has been a huge amount of housing wealth concentration in the capital. Over-65s have gained £146billion in the last ten years and in 2024, 25% of property transactions involved overseas buyers. Together, that has created a situation where house prices have been decoupled from local demand.”

Council launches fresh consultation on landlord licensing The selective licensing scheme is designed to improve standards and is set to be expanded from 14 wards to 17 next year

Council launches fresh consultation on landlord licensing

The selective licensing scheme is designed to improve standards and is set to be expanded from 14 wards to 17 next year
enfielddispatch.co.uk/council-laun...

Khan urged to focus on 'mid-rise' rather than high-rise homes to meet London target Paris and Auckland held up as best examples of using mid-rise developments of between five and nine storeys to maximise density

Khan urged to focus on 'mid-rise' rather than high-rise homes to meet London target

Paris and Auckland held up as best examples of using mid-rise developments of between five and nine storeys to maximise density
enfielddispatch.co.uk/khan-urged-t...

Awaab’s Law: Why so many UK homes still have a mould problem Despite outcry over a British toddler’s death, mould remains a problem in many homes - so are new law changes enough?

Housing campaigners want firmer commitments around when
Awaab's Law will extend to the private sector. "We've heard nothing from the government about when it will apply to private renters," says Renters Reform Coalition.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

London affordable housing quota reduced from 35% to 20% Sir Sadiq Khan agrees a deal with government to lower quotas to try and speed up housing projects.

Affordable housing policy doesn’t just deliver affordable homes, it restrains speculative land value growth.
Lowering targets releases that brake, enriching landowners while worsening London’s affordability crisis.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

One of many sites in this area that should be redeveloped for housing 👇

Yesterday's Local Plan hearing session included the 17-storey development in the council's 5-year housing land supply trajectory. Amazing that they had not checked whether it was still likely to go ahead before the hearing.

Why is Enfield Council failing on recycling? In the second of a series scrutinising Enfield Council’s progress on meeting climate targets, Carol Fisk of Enfield Climate Action Forum's land use working group examines progress on waste and recycli...

The only reason they can claim it is low carbon is because incinerator emissions are not counted locally.

The "leftover heat" is generated due to appalling waste/recycling rates.
enfielddispatch.co.uk/why-is-enfie...

Labour’s housing hypocrisy: councils serve almost 200 families with no-fault eviction notices Exclusive: firms run by five of the party’s councils have used legal loophole to serve section 21 notices

Enfield Council named as one of Labour’s housing hypocrisy councils

@enfielddispatch.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Why is Enfield Council failing on recycling? In the second of a series scrutinising Enfield Council’s progress on meeting climate targets, Carol Fisk of Enfield Climate Action Forum's land use working group examines progress on waste and recycli...

Rubbish!

enfielddispatch.co.uk/why-is-enfie...

A leaked memo, a Maga-style hat and a trail of broken pledges – it’s Labour’s great housing betrayal | Aditya Chakrabortty Ignore the bombast: Steve ‘build, baby, build’ Reed’s boast looks likely to end in targets more pathetic than they are now, says Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty

"London’s housing problem today is not primarily about over-regulation – it’s about the lack of demand."

As Molior put it: “No buyers = no construction starts”.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

In Enfield, we are losing family homes to House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) conversions.

Landlords buy up family houses and convert them into HMOs.

Now the new council's Local Plan is proposing to remove the policy that helped control it. Families are being priced out and planned out.

UK must prepare buildings for 2C rise in global temperature, government told Climate advisers warn that current plans to protect against extreme weather are inadequate

🔥 "Existing buildings and infrastructure should be upgraded to withstand temperatures of at least 2C higher than normal by 2050. Any new constructions intended to last decades should be prepared for 4C above preindustrial levels" 🔥

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

🚨🚨 #Climate

Khan says there's "a long way to go" before Enfield gets New Town Speaking at City Hall, the Mayor set out big issues to be addressed before the government taskforce's recommendation can be put into effect

There's a long way to go before #Enfield gets its New Town, says Sadiq Khan. Top City Hall reporting by @charleswright57.bsky.social: www.onlondon.co.uk/sadiq-khan-s... #london #housing @centreforcities.bsky.social @centreforlondon.bsky.social

How ex-council tenants make over £200k selling homes back to councils Big Issue investigates the Right To Buy properties sold back to councils for massive profits, just years after being bought at a discount.

Excellent report by The Big Issue that again highlights the utter futility of Thatcher's Right to Buy policy - and the baffling decisions by Labour governments that have followed to not scrap it.
www.bigissue.com/news/housing...

Calling housing academics, researchers and economists - we've put out a tender for research on private landlord profits; how substantial are they, how are they distributed, from rent vs. capital etc.

Apply at the link below! Budget up to £40k including vat.

Please reshare!!

Planning for the future is essential, but it must not come at the expense of action to help renters and households now.

@generationrent.bsky.social are absolutely right to point out New Town plans for Crews Hill will take years to complete and to push for rent controls.

Enfield Council promised a greener, cleaner borough when they declared a climate emergency but recycling rates are falling, waste is rising, and incinerator emissions are being ignored.

Risks of Removing HMO Policies in Enfield’s New Local Plan Enfield’s proposed new Local Plan has sparked considerable debate and is currently being examined by the Government’s Planning Inspector. One concern we have about the Plan, is the absence of…

It may well be easier for them to get planning permission in the future

betterhomes-enfield.org/2025/02/11/r...

The new town proposal for Crews Hill will cover over 884 hectares of land but no map has been published to show where the boundary would be and neither the council nor government has answered questions from the Enfield Dispatch around this.

Rachel Reeves clears planning blockage amid ‘good relationship’ with developer Exclusive: Chancellor says 20,000 homes were being held up due to ‘some snails that are a protected species or something’

“... shocking to hear the chancellor boast allowing people with privileged access to try and circumvent some of these processes that have been put in place by parliament, and to hear the way that the chancellor just dismisses ecological science ...”
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Tables on homelessness The latest data tables on homelessness.

Cllr Erbil claims “500 homeless families a month”.

Official data puts it nearer 100.

Data: DLUHC homelessness tables for Enfield (2023–24 & Q1 2025)
www.gov.uk/government/s...

Chobham Manor is a London Olympic Legacy housing development, designed with the needs of young and intergenerational families at its core.

🔗 www.tcpa.org.uk/resources/bu...

This case study is from a new collection on child-friendly places, developed by the TCPA with A Place in Childhood.

Families to save hundreds of pounds in major homebuying overhaul First-time buyers set to save money when buying a home and timelines reduced with a new consultation launched by the Government.

Anything that helps first-time buyers is welcome, especially in places like Enfield, where affordability’s a real barrier. But calling it “the biggest shake-up to the homebuying system in this country’s history” might be stretching it.

www.gov.uk/government/n...

Enfield Council overlooked land on one of their own developments with an estimated gross development value of around a quarter-of-a-billion pounds - land purchased at considerable expense to the taxpayer.

But wasn't all of this known about before the 1.5 million homes target for England was set?