Press release

Today London’s fastest growing affordable housing developer Pocket Living has broken ground on its latest scheme on Varcoe Road in South Bermondsey to provide new homes for local people. Southwark Council Leader Cllr Peter John, Deputy Leader Cllr Rebecca Lury and Cabinet Member for Regeneration Cllr Johnson Situ kicked off construction on the innovative project by breaking the ground on site.

Pocket Living will transform the former car service station on Varcoe Road into a part six-storey, part eight-storey building offering 57 affordable one-bedroom homes for sale – with at least a 20 per cent discount off the full market value. The building also features 225 sqm of commercial space capable of delivering 14 jobs.  

The homes remain affordable in perpetuity and are always restricted to first-time buyers livingorworkinginthelocal London borough. They are ideal for singles and buyers who own 100 per cent of their home, differing from shared ownership schemes. Crucially, buy-to-let investors are ineligible to apply.

Pocket Living’s commitment to delivering affordable housing has been backed by Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London who last year provided the company with a £25million loan to deliver sites like Varcoe Road. The Mayor’s backing will see Pocket Living start on 1059 affordable homes by March 2021.

Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, said:

“Tackling London’s housing crisis requires bold new approaches… I invested in Pocket Living to help them build genuinely affordable homes that are sold to local people first.”

Pocket Living’s Chief Executive Marc Vlessing said:

“Sadiq Khan invested in Pocket Living to help us build quality affordable homes for local people on middle incomes that stay affordable forever. We’re extremely excited to be delivering our first homes in Southwark. We know there is huge demand in the area for Pocket. We already have over 1,400 people registered for a Pocket flat in Southwark. We want to help local people to get a foot on the housing ladder.”

Ends

Notes to editors

You can download pictures from the Breaking of the Ground event here: xx

In August 2017 the Mayor of London invested £25m in Pocket living to start on 1059 homes by 2021. The money will be paid back in full by the end of the next decade. The mayor of London said: “I invested in Pocket Living to help them build genuinely affordable homes that are sold to local people first.”  Quote from Mayor of London sourced from here: https://www.london.gov.uk/press-releases/mayoral/mayor-approves-factory-built-scheme