Homes and garages on a Camberwell estate will be redeveloped to make way for 51 extra council houses.
Proposals to redevelop two single-storey blocks and a set of garages on Sceaux Gardens Estate have been given the go ahead by the council.
The Racine and Florian buildings, which currently contain one-bedroom ground-floor bungalows, will be redeveloped into five and four-storey blocks respectively.
In addition, the current garage site adjacent to the estate’s Colbert House building will also be redeveloped into a six-storey residential block.
The scheme will provide 81 new council homes of varying sizes – a total net gain of 51 homes.
It will include a mix of one-bedroom and wheelchair-accessible homes at ground floor, as well as bigger family homes.
A number of elderly and vulnerable tenants living in the Florian and Racine buildings will need to be rehomed as part of the building process, however the council has said they will be given additional support in bidding for new homes and moving.
Councillor Mark Williams, cabinet member for regeneration and new homes, said the decision to rehome the tenants had not been “taken lightly”.
“The very real impact and disruption on the residents of Florian and Racine has been carefully considered against the benefits of delivering new council homes,” he said.
“All 274 one-bed ground-floor council homes within an 800m radius of the estate will be ring-fenced should they become vacant for tenants from Florian and Racine to move into.”
Resident John McGrath has been part of a panel working closely with the council on the project.
He said the majority of residents on the estate were looking forward to the scheme.
“In all honestly we as a TRA look forward to more flats and that’s the idea behind it,” he told the News.
“You will get your critics obviously but I’m 82 and I like change and those homes are desperately needed.
“Florian and Racine were built for elderly people and [the buildings] have had their day.
“It’s all been passed and that’s the great thing – now it’s just a matter of planning and going forward.”