Tesco to build 'affordable' homes for staff

Retail giant Tesco is set to build homes for its staff to combat the dearth of affordable housing in London.

Tesco, the UK's largest supermarket, is to create 250 flats alongside its Streatham store, 100 of which will be "affordable" and 13 designated for staff.

The firm already has "planning consent" and is currently in the "final stages of legal agreements," a spokeswoman explained.

If the trial is successful, the chain intends to incorporate staff housing into further developments.

Tesco has historically been under-represented in London and the move to create for homes for its staff is said to be key to the strategy to counter this.

A spokeswoman for Tesco said they hoped the scheme would be "beneficial for staff retention" in London, where they suffer from a fast turnover of workers.

She added: "It is being led in London because there is more need for affordable housing... the sites in London are more constrained so you need to be a lot more imaginative."

News of the scheme has emerged the day before the supermarket chain is due to update the City on its all-important Christmas trading figures.

The Streatham development is set to include a leisure centre and ice rink in addition to the flats above the Tesco store.

The flats will be sold to a housing association and staff will not be treated any differently to other tenants, retaining the right to stay in the property even if they stop working for the supermarket giant.

However, if flats become vacant, staff will be offered them first.

Key workers, who are often priced out of the London housing market, are intended to benefit from the pioneering project, in addition to Tesco employees.

It is not the first project by Tesco to include attached housing, but it is the first to explicitly target staff.

"The days of doing single use schemes for any sector are numbered," the spokeswoman said.

Copyright Press Association 2007.