Stonebridge Estate receives recognition at Inside Housing Development Awards

Posted 20/06/2024

Milton Avenue and Hillside on the Stonebridge Estate in the London borough of Brent have been recognised at this year’s Inside Housing Development Awards as one of the finalists for Best Affordable Housing Development (over £20m).

The development, which was built in partnership with Brent Council, forms part of the overall masterplan to sensitively redevelop Stonebridge Estate to provide much needed affordable housing and to strengthen and improve community amenities and enrich the local environment.

Steve Leakey, Managing Director of Higgins Partnerships comments, “We are proud to have succeeded in transforming this area into a high quality 100% affordable housing development, creating secure, safe homes for many families within the borough.

“As well as the homes we have invested in community engagement and social value, which is at the core of what we do, collaborating with key partners to deliver sustainable legacy projects that make a tangible difference in the local community.”

Hillside provides a mixture of 51, one, two and three bedroom apartments with a community centre on the ground floor providing space for residents to come together and contributing to the street scene and active fronting. Each home has many energy saving design measures included to help residents keep living costs low.

At Milton Avenue Higgins has created 22 four bedroom townhouses to address the demand for larger homes from families in the borough. The new terrace of family townhouses creates a clear division between public and private realm and are designed with front gables to pick up the architectural style of the Edwardian terraces opposite. Two end of terrace homes are wheelchair adaptable M4(3) while the other houses are M4(2). Each property has individual private front and rear gardens.

The public open space has been reconfigured running along the line of the canal feeder, creating an enlarged linear park with public walkways, activity space and new landscaping to serve the community and promote rich biodiversity.

Higgins also provided a wealth of community benefits as part of its ESG commitments to transform the area and lives of people living in it. During the development, Higgins generated over £6,953,000 in social and local economic value, working with a variety of local charities and partners to deliver meaningful community initiatives, contributing £29,578.33 in financial donations and sponsorship, providing 333 hours of community and volunteering hours.

Training and employment opportunities were made readily available to the Brent community through apprenticeships, work placements and work experience. This included the creation of 10 apprenticeships, with a focus on disadvantaged groups; two employability programmes with The Forward Trust for 20 Brent residents who had barriers to work such as ex-offenders or addiction; 16 local people supported through a pre-employment construction programme and five residents enrolled on the Higgins Work Placement Programme with Skillsbuilder Partnership.

Higgins also established a partnership with Jason Roberts Foundation and Brent Council to provide a programme of support to young people including mentoring, life skills, education, and training projects within its wider sports activities. Through financial donations including £10,000, Higgins provided volunteering, workshops, training, education, and environmental projects. Initiatives included transforming storage facilities into an operational community gym; restoring the community centre walkway to help access the area safely; hosting career days for people up to the age of 25; supporting The Green League Ambassadors social action community days including litter picking, planting pollinators to attract wildlife and focusing on climate change.