Work started this week to deliver 168 new homes on Luton Street, part of the Church Street Regeneration programme.

More than a third of the homes will be affordable and the project and also includes a sports hall and community space.

Cllr Rachael Robathan, Westminster City Council cabinet member for finance, property and regeneration, said:

“This is the beginning of an exciting new future for Luton Street and part of our overall commitment to deliver 1,850 new affordable homes across Westminster.

“We’ve worked with our local residents to make sure we deliver the right scheme for the community. We believe that the new sports hall and community space will be a good thing for the local area, alongside the much-needed new affordable homes.”

“Luton Street is a major part of the Church Street Masterplan and demonstrates our commitment to supporting the community.”

Westminster City Council is delivering the project alongside property development company Linkcity. Bouygues UK is the main contractor. At present the site is made up of 14 vacant affordable residential dwellings and two vacant community buildings.

Olivier Soulier, Deputy Managing Director of Linkcity, commented:

“It is exciting to be working again with Westminster City Council, helping to turn the borough’s vision for high-quality affordable housing into a reality. Breaking ground today is a huge milestone in bringing forward this project that will provide much-needed new homes and significant benefits for the local community.”

In total the development will include 109 homes for sale and 59 affordable homes. 40 of these will be for social rent, and 19 will be intermediate.

There will be 76 underground car parking spaces, a three-court sports hall and a community space.

Any additional surplus made from the sale of private homes on site will be reinvested back into more affordable housing and community projects in Westminster.

In addition, a £3 million contribution will be made to infrastructure and public realm funds and £2.4million contributed for work to surrounding residential buildings.

As part of the Section 106 agreement (designed to provide benefits for the local community) Westminster City Council and Linkcity will engage with local schools and this could include access to the sports facilities.

The completion date is expected to be in 2022.

The project is part of the wider Church Street Regeneration programme which is expected to deliver 1,240 new homes, over half of which will be affordable.

Both Luton Street and the overall Church Street programme have been subject to extensive consultation with residents, who have given it their backing.

The council has made a commitment to deliver 1,850 affordable homes across Westminster by 2023.