The current housing crisis is having a profound impact on the people of Islington. With rents rising and people being forced between paying for heating or food, now is the time to deliver housing justice for the people of Islington. Everyone deserves a safe, decent, genuinely affordable place to call home. However, years of inaction from Tory Governments mean there simply isn’t the housing supply to meet the need in Islington.
By working with the local community and the Mayor of London we have successfully secured a once-in-a-generation development on the site of the former prison. This week, Islington Labour Councillors visited the Holloway Prison site to mark the start of construction of 985 new homes for local people which include 60% genuinely affordable housing.
Holloway Park, the new development, will have 415 new homes for social rent, as part of our overall 1550 genuinely affordable homes commitment, as outlined in our 2022 manifesto. To mark the significance of the site as a former women’s prison, 5% of the homes on the development will be secured in perpetuity for women who have experienced the justice system.
The development will also have a unique Women’s Building for vulnerable women that were previously provided on site when the prison was operational. It is expected that the building will key support services for women.
Additionally, the programme includes 60 extra care homes to support older residents, a 5,000m2 public park and new pedestrian and cycle connections, the site will be built to high environmental standards with green roofs, new trees and low-carbon heating and hot water for residents, generated through air source heat pumps.
Councillor Diarmaid Ward, Executive Member for Finance, Planning and Performance said: “I am delighted that works on this new development have begun. After seven years of campaigning and working with Tufnell Park’s three Labour Councillors we are so proud of what our Labour run Council has achieved at the prison site.”