THE STOW: L&Q building 'on hold' (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

THE STOW: L&Q building 'on hold'

5:02pm Tuesday 16th September 2008 in

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THE Walthamstow Stadium site developer will not build any new private homes for 18 months, according to its chief executive.

David Montague of London and Quadrant (L&Q) made the comment to Inside Housing, a trade magazine for the social housing sector, on Friday.

He was writing as a representative of The Volume Developer Group, which L&Q is a part of, and the G15 group of London’s biggest housing associations.

Both organisations are lobbying the government for a new way to fund social housing, saying they are no longer able to subsidise social housing development by also selling houses at market rates, and through shared ownership.

Instead they want the public purse to provide grants until lenders recover confidence.

Mr Montague said: “Nothing is going to be built under the current model. The current model is broken.”

It is unclear if this model was the one L&Q intended to use on the Walthamstow Stadium site, where dog racing ceased after 77 years on August 16.

Early plans show 500 homes, half of which would be social housing and the rest sold privately.

Representatives from the housing association have previously told the Guardian that the development was safe from falling house prices because housing associations are not so reliant on market forces.

As well as selling homes, L&Q draws on Government grants, rent and its own surpluses.

Mr Montague was not available for an interview but an L&Q spokesman said that his comments did not include around 2,000 homes “already in the pipeline”.

“It doesn’t affect anything to do with Walthamstow Stadium at all,” he added. “We are a long-term investor and we are still committed to providing new homes in mixed tenure developments.”

The Save Our Stow consortium, which has put in a £32 million bid to buy the site, however, is not so sure.

Spokesman Ricky Holloway, said: “I think it’s an absolute scandal they’ve bought the land under false pretences. It’s not going to be built on, it’s going to become a land bank.”

The consortium is due to meet with L&Q lawyers tomorrow to discuss its proposal.