CINEMA SCHEME A ‘MUST SEE’ » Communities » 24dash.com

A new £5 million redevelopment programme to build 28 new homes, office and retail units on a disused cinema site in south east London has been given local council go-ahead.

ASRA Greater London Housing Association has been told by Lewisham Borough Council it can commence building the mixed tenure scheme on what was the old Electric Cinema site and coaching stables on New Cross Road, SE14.  Work is scheduled to begin this month, and will be completed in March 2008.

The ASRA scheme comprises 23 homes with a mix of one, two and three bedroom properties and will be available for rent or part rent/part sale under the Government’s New Build HomeBuy shared ownership scheme.  Solar panels will be installed for greater energy efficiency to help drastically reduce overall fuel bills.  

ASRA is also building for the NDC (New Deal for Communities), based in New Cross, providing a further five residential apartments and additional office space (which will be occupied by the NDC), and a restaurant/café to be leased to Lewisham College and used as a training location for catering students.  NDC was awarded a £45m budget in 2001 by the Government to regenerate New Cross over a period of five years.

“Lewisham has a long term identified requirement for affordable housing, and this redevelopment will go a long way in meeting that need,” said LHA-ASRA’s group development director, Mukhtar Latif.  “You can’t beat the location either - the Electric Empire site will offer excellent transport links for residents, and is close to a huge variety of shopping, business and leisure facilities.”

The scheme forms part of ASRA’s overall 2006 – 2008 development programme to provide 460 houses and apartments across the capital thanks to an allocation of £36.5m from the Housing Corporation (the government body which funds and regulates housing associations).

“ASRA continues to acquire an increasing number of new development sites, boosting the number of affordable homes built for rent, and expanding low-cost shared-ownership housing for potential buyers including key workers,” adds Mukhtar Latif.

Part of the LHA-ASRA housing group, ASRA was originally established to meet the needs of Asian elders, but increasingly provides a range of accommodation for people of all ethnicities, faiths and backgrounds.  Its developments and services cover 20 London boroughs and five local authorities in the south east.

ENDS

Press release issued September 20th 2006