More Temporary Modular Housing For Ealing

Garages in Northolt to be demolished and replaced by at least 28 flats

A new site of modular temporary housing has been approved in Ealing.

A block of run-down garages at the Medlar Farm estate in Northolt will be demolished and replaced by a factory-built development of at least 28 flats, subject to planning permission.

The purpose built flats will remain in place for around 10 to 15 years, before being dismantled and re-erected on another site elsewhere in London. The properties will have either two or three bedrooms and rented to homeless Ealing residents while they wait for permanent accommodation.

They are the first units built by a new London wide initiative called PLACE (Pan-London Accommodation Collaborative Enterprise) which was set up in December 2018.

It will create a pool of relocatable modular homes that can be leased by any of its member London councils. The units can then be deployed on a “meanwhile” site, which is earmarked for long-term development but currently available. 

Ealing has pioneered the use of modular accommodation as an alternative to bed and breakfast for homeless families. The new flats in Northolt will one of two purpose-built modular housing site to open for use in the borough in 2020.

Work to build Chris Payne House in Hanwell is currently underway. The council believe such modular flats offer a better option of comfort and security for tenants than a room in a bed and breakfast.

The council say PLACE’s design standards require that the family homes have the quality of permanent housing but can be easily dismantled and moved from one site to another and will look contemporary while meeting all current housing design requirements and regulations.

Design of the buildings is now under way and they are likely to be installed at the site in spring 2020. Demolition of the garages at the site will be begin in October. The first tenants at the new flats will move in from spring 2020. Ealing Council will pay for the site to be prepared, including demolition of the garages, and has put aside £100,000 to cover costs. PLACE will pay for all other costs of planning, preparing and building the homes, and in due course, it will pay for the units to be moved to another site. 

Ealing Cuncil say they will save around £72,000 a year by removing the need to pay for bed and breakfast accommodation for the 28 households that move in. 

Councillor Peter Mason is Ealing Council’s lead member for housing, planning and transformation. He said: “London’s housing crisis means that increasing numbers of families can no longer afford to live in the place they grew up and become homeless. There are currently over 2,200 Ealing households living in temporary accommodation – of which over 75% are families with children. This means we need to act urgently.

“Innovative schemes like PLACE are a big part of the solution. For an investment of just £100,000, we will acquire the use of 28 new purpose-built flats which will give homeless families a private, safe place to stay.

“I’m proud that this highly innovative solution to homelessness is getting started in Ealing. We’re one of the few councils with the skills needed to work with portable housing, which is rapidly emerging as a key factor in the fight against the housing crisis.”

29 October 2019