The UK’s first ever housing block purely for women is being built in Acton and will provide a ‘lifeline’ to those struggling to find a home, and also victims of domestic abuse.
When completed, Brook House will include 102 affordable, socially rented flats. It replaces an old 39-home estate, and the tenants will be a mixture of women on Ealing Council’s waiting list and residents put forward by Women’s Pioneer Housing, which will manage the site.
The council currently has more than 600 single women on its housing waiting list, and there are almost 8,000 households in the borough waiting for a socially rented home.
Speaking at an event last week to mark a milestone in the project, council leader Peter Mason said: “The 102 new flats being built at Brook House will provide a safe, secure, genuinely affordable place to call home for some of the hundreds of women on the waiting list for social housing in our borough.
“Some of the homes will be let to women who have experienced domestic abuse and other dangers. There is a big need for this type of specialist, women-only accommodation. Almost 3,500 cases of domestic abuse were recorded in Ealing in the last 12 months.
“London’s affordable housing crisis disproportionately impacts women, who still face a gender pay gap that sees them, on average, earn less than men, constraining their ability to afford rent. With Ealing acutely affected by the national affordable housing crisis, the flats will be a lifeline for women who are unable to privately rent.”
L&Q is carrying out construction, which is expected to be completed by next summer. The first residents are expected to move in shortly after.
The original estate at Brook House, in Gunnersbury Lane, opposite Acton Town Underground station, was built in the 1930s, with additional homes and blocks built in the 70s. However, many of these homes were no longer fit for modern living standards and were also not suitable for refurbishment.
Tracey Downie, chief executive at Women’s Pioneer Housing, said: “Women’s Pioneer Housing has worked for more than 100 years with single women, including in Ealing, and we strongly believe that providing more good-quality, affordable homes for women is critically important, particularly during this cost-of-living and energy crisis. This new building will provide a real home for many single women in dire need.”
The new homes at Brook House will count towards the council’s target of thousands of new genuinely affordable homes being available to let by 2026.
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