Lendlease confirmed for £2bn Haringey jv

Lendlease has been confirmed as Haringey Council’s development partner for the £2bn Haringey Development Vehicle. The 50:50 joint venture will see the council put public land into the partnership and an equal cash commitment to the development projects. Over the next 20 years, the first phase of the partnership will see at least 5,000 new homes delivered and a new town centre. Around 200 protestors marched up Wood Green High Street last night to voice anti “social cleansing” chants outside Haringey civic centre as councillors arrived for the meeting. Concerns have been raised over the protection of existing social housing, whether the council will have equal say over business decisions and whether councillors have carried out necessary due diligence on the partnership. However, the Labour council’s cabinet last night approved the decision to appoint Lendlease as partner and attempted to reassure the community about its concerns, offering like-for-like housing replacements for council tenants. Alan Strickland, council cabinet member for housing, regeneration and planning, said: “When you look across London, what you see is that in 2015-16 the previous financial year, of the 33 London councils, 26 of those councils did not start building a single house, a single council house. So it is not the case that other councils are building tens of thousands of new council homes and Haringey hasn’t got round to it. Across London, councils don’t have the money, don’t have the funding and don’t have the expertise to do this.” The sites include the Wood Green Estate, Haringey Civic Centre, Station Road offices, Northern Northumberland Park Regeneration Area and a commercial portfolio comprising 146 assets valued at around £48m. • To send feedback, e-mail louisa.clarence-smith@estatesgazette.com or tweet @LouisaClarence or @estatesgazette