Cllr Diarmaid Ward, Executive Member for Housing and Development, blogs on the future of the former Holloway Prison site and how it could help to tackle Islington’s housing crisis.

In July 2016, the last prisoners left what is now the former site of Holloway Prison, 164 years after the prison opened. The now-empty site represents a key opportunity to build more genuinely affordable homes for local people in Islington.

The history of Holloway Prison is intertwined with the pursuit of social justice. The suffragettes imprisoned there fought for votes for women. Today, the fight is about decent housing and making sure that everyone has a safe and secure home.

Islington faces a housing crisis, with over 19,000 people on our housing register and 806 households placed in temporary accommodation. While the land of the former prison is owned by the Ministry of Justice, any new use for the site must be approved by Islington Council’s Planning Committee.

Our planning policies require that at least 50 per cent of the new homes that are delivered in Islington are genuinely affordable to local people, so we are determined to see as much genuinely affordable housing as possible built on the former site of Holloway Prison.

Today (16 August) a consultation on the Council’s Holloway Prison Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) begins. The SPD offers a vision of what would be expected from the site’s future development and is an opportunity to ensure that any new development works for the local community.

The SPD is now being consulted on and we are seeking views from the local community, before a final document is taken to the Council’s Executive for adoption in Autumn 2017.

Any plan for the Holloway site will take time, but the Ministry of Justice has the opportunity to make a real difference to Islington’s housing crisis immediately. Just beyond the perimeter wall of HMP Pentonville sits Wellington Mews, with a total of 28 flats originally used as accommodation for prison staff. The vast majority of these homes have been empty for many years and the Council is ready to work with the Minister of Justice to ensure they are put back into use.

Islington Council is already committed to seeing 2,000 new genuinely affordable homes built in the borough by 2019, including 500 new council homes. More than 200 genuinely affordable homes are currently under construction. 2017-18 will see 131 council houses for social rent completed, the most council homes built in Islington 1987.

The future of the former Holloway Prison site could add to this legacy of creating much-needed genuinely affordable housing in Islington. To have your say on the SPD, visit the Council website.

Pictured – Cllr Diarmaid Ward, Executive Member for Housing and Development