The industrial site between Crews Hill and Clay Hill is within the Green Belt but already has planning permission for new affordable housing, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

The plans by Lansdown and Anglo Aquatic Plant Ltd and (inset) cabinet member Ayten Guzel

Enfield Council has agreed to purchase a site where 58 affordable homes are planned to be built.

The development in Strayfield Road, which won outline approval two years ago, is expected to be completed in phases starting from 2027.

The brownfield site – currently occupied by a wholesale supplier of pond plants – is within the Green Belt and forms part of the broader Crews Hill placemaking area allocated in the draft Local Plan for 5,550 homes, although its sits on the southern edge and borders Clay Hill Conservation Area.

Senior Labour councillors were excited to discuss the plan to purchase the site last night (Wednesday 10th), as it will enable the council to provide 58 homes for social rent, helping to reduce its housing waiting list.

Ayten Guzel, the council’s cabinet member for housing, said: “[The scheme] is going to deliver 100% affordable council homes, it’s going to deliver houses with gardens and that’s something we don’t see all the time.”

She also welcomed the provision of “much-needed homes for families” as part of the scheme.

The development consists of 40 three-bed and 18 two-bed homes, which a council report called “strategically important” to address Enfield’s housing need.

Although the cost of acquiring the site has not been revealed, the report stated it would be financed in part through Right to Buy receipts, which is the cash received from council tenants exercising the legal right to purchase their properties.

Cllr Guzel said: “We have a housing shortage, as long as we have long waiting lists, and this is a great opportunity for us to provide a scheme which is purely houses [rather than flats].

“The scheme will bring economic gain to the borough, it will provide jobs and apprenticeships during the construction phase, and it will support economic growth in Crews Hill.”

Council leader Ergin Erbil agreed and added: “ It [the scheme] is extremely important and it’s a part of how we’re creating a fairer Enfield where we are creating a mixed community, where we are building council homes on land that is usually associated with some of the most affluent neighborhoods and postcodes in the country.

“So I’m really proud of this report and the work that our officers are doing [to provide a] 100% council homes development.”

The Anglo Aquatic site in Strayfield Road

Alev Cazimoglu, cabinet member for health and social care, also welcomed the “absolutely fantastic” scheme and pointed out housing was “the biggest determinant in health outcomes” and that homes with gardens had an important role to play.

An outline plan for the Anglo Aquatic site was first approved in September 2023 but was opposed at the time by local groups including The Enfield Society, Crews Hill Residents’ Association and Enfield Roadwatch, over claims it would increase congestion and have a detrimental impact on the Green Belt.

However, it was backed by Labour councillors who welcomed the provision of affordable housing in the west of the borough.

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