Catherine West MP has responded to Haringey Council’s consultation on the future of Wood Greenby urging the council to make a “clear commitment” to a minimum of 50 per cent genuinely-affordable housing.

The council’s vision for Wood Green’s future sets out the possibility for high quality residential development, providing a minimum of 4,600 new homes. In her formal response, Catherine West MP notes that “sadly Haringey can no longer be considered a borough with affordable rents or house prices for the vast majority of residents. Land values have soared and in areas like Wood Green families that have lived there for generations are being priced out. There is a desperate shortage of genuinely-affordable homes. Such a large scale development brings the opportunity to provide much-needed homes that residents can afford to live in”.

The housing crisis is the biggest challenge facing London, but developers are trying to tell the council that only 18 per cent of Wood Green’s proposed new homes can be affordable.

In response, Catherine said: “In my advice surgeries, I speak to so many families struggling in overcrowded flats, people who’ve been on the council waiting list for years and have lost all hope of getting anywhere and young people who can’t save for a mortgage because rents are so high. The Wood Green (West) regeneration scheme will see thousands of new homes built over the coming decades. Developers are trying to tell the council that only 18% can be affordable, but we know that Labour policy is 50%.”

Send a message to the developers by signing Catherine’s petition to demand 50 per cent of new homes in the Wood Green regeneration scheme should be affordable.

Catherine’s consultation response also notes the importance of defending Wood Green’s community and cultural legacy and the need to improve the green connection between Alexandra Palace & Park and Wood Green.

Read a full copy of her letter here: