The company, which has already built more than 200 homes above its supermarkets in London, intends to extend the practice to all future store developments – as many as 20 sites. All these developments will include affordable housing, but how much is not yet known.
The company is looking for housing associations to act as development partners.
Tesco has recently gained planning permission for more than 100 homes – more than 25% of which will be affordable – as part of its redevelopment of the South London Women's Hospital in Clapham. The company is set to approach construction firms for tenders in the next few weeks.
Another store development in Streatham, south London, is expected to go ahead despite being called in for scrutiny by the Greater London Authority on a point unrelated to housing. It will include 250 homes, 40% of them affordable or key-worker housing.
Katherine Edwards, the retailer's corporate affairs manager, said: "Tesco acknowledges the need to incorporate mixed use in future store developments and this will naturally include a considerable number of new affordable homes."
Funding for the housing has yet to be confirmed, although social housing grant has been successfully applied for in the past.
Peabody Housing Trust and Notting Hill Housing Group currently manage homes built by Tesco at supermarkets in west London.
The news comes less than a year after a report by property consultant CB Hillier Parker said 10,000 homes could be built on supermarket sites in London.
The report was commissioned by London mayor Ken Livingstone, and received backing from the Housing Corporation. Livingstone believes there is considerable capacity in redeveloping supermarket sites into mixed-use sites.
Source
Housing Today
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