The Peabody housing association has been given approval to build more than 1,500 homes in south-east London, revamping a 1970s concrete estate that served as the backdrop to A Clockwork Orange.

The first residents are expected to move into the new homes in Thamesmead in 2019. Peabody’s plans mark the first phase of a £1.5bn regeneration programme, one of the biggest in Europe, which could deliver up to 20,000 new homes across 40 hectares (100 acres). The developing body owns 80% of the land.

Thamesmead will be connected to central London by Crossrail, known as the Elizabeth line, from a rebuilt Abbey Wood station scheduled to open in December 2018.

Up to 45% of the 1,500 new homes are expected to be affordable: a mix of social rent, shared ownership and intermediate market rent (set at about 80% of the market rental value of similar local properties). They range from one-bedroom flats to maisonettes and four-bedroom townhouses. Existing tenants will get a new home on the same tenure.



Peabody’s executive director for Thamesmead, John Lewis, said a “big hurdle was jumped” when the plans were unanimously agreed by Bexley council’s planning committee on Tuesday night. Existing residents had been consulted and the responses had been positive overall, he said.

The project is Peabody’s most ambitious to date. The housing association, one of the oldest in London, is preparing to begin construction next summer, with the final phase to be completed in 2024.

Peabody will build 525 homes at Southmere village, 230 of which will be affordable, plus a library, cafes, restaurants and shops around a public square on the banks of Southmere Lake. About 1,000 more homes will follow at three other nearby sites, comprised of between 35% and 45% affordable and social housing.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest An artist’s impression of the square at Southmere village, where 525 new homes will be built, 230 of them affordable. Photograph: Proctor and Matthews

The average house price in the area is 44% of the London average. More than 40% of homes in Thamesmead are socially rented at present, more than double the average for England.

“As well as creating much-needed quality new homes, the development will create thousands of new jobs and will attract new businesses too,” Lewis said.