The first 20 homes completed at Meridian One are being let to council tenants, who will pick up their keys in September

Meridian Water is set to get its very first new residents – representing a “momentous occasion” for the Enfield Council-led housing project in Edmonton.

Work began two years ago on 300 homes at Meridian One, the first phase of the project, and 20 properties have now been completed. These will all be made available as London Affordable Rent homes for council tenants, who are set to pick up their keys next month.

Meridian One will contain 977 homes once fully complete, representing nearly 10% of the total 10,000 target for housing across Meridian Water as a whole. While the aim is to have 40% affordable housing across the whole project, Meridian One is split 50/50 between private sale and affordable housing, of which half will be for council tenants and half will be ‘intermediate’ shared ownership homes aimed at first-time buyers and key workers.

The council says the properties that have been allocated to Enfield residents local to the area are predominantly family homes and some are fully accessible for disabled people.

The Dispatch recently revealed that private sale homes at Meridian One were struggling to sell, however, with many units having their prices slashed after nearly a year on the market.

On the news that the first new council tenants would be arriving in September, council leader Nesil Caliskan said: “This is a momentous occasion for the Meridian Water project and our plan to build decent, affordable homes in Enfield.

“Alongside new homes, Meridian Water is investing in Edmonton residents with new leisure facilities, training and job opportunities. It will be a great honour to welcome the first families to Meridian Water.”

Meridian Water is one of London’s largest regeneration programmes. While delays to future phases of the project were incurred in the last year thanks to spiraling costs, the council received a major boost this summer when the government agreed to provide an extra £25million on top of the original £170m grant payment for infrastructure works across the development zone first announced in 2020.

The money will be spent on covering an extensive range of works including the naturalisation of Pymmes Brook, two new parks, roads, bridges, footpaths and cycle links to be delivered over the next few years. Previously-planned rail upgrades on the line connecting Meridian Water Station to central London remain on hold, however.

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