Barking and Dagenham plans to build 50,000 homes over 20 years

Carey Jones Chapman Tolcher's Crown House scheme in Barking town centre for BeFirst which goes to planning tonight

Carey Jones Chapman Tolcher’s Crown House scheme in Barking town centre for BeFirst which goes to planning tonight

Barking and Dagenham council’s regeneration arm has announced a £300m architectural framework for its ambitious council housing programme.

The east London borough wants 50,000 “high-quality” homes to be built over the next 20 years by the council and its partners. It has already set up BeFirst, a regeneration company, to ramp up progress.

BeFirst has set itself a five-year target of building at least 2,700 homes which will be largely council-owned, with some “affordable” and shared ownership properties.

It has identified 44 sites across the borough, some quite small and others with the potential for more than 200 homes. They include the old Ford factory in Dagenham and around the new Crossrail station at Chadwell Heath.

Barking and Dagenham began building council homes a few years ago but the latest OJEU notice is an acknowledgement that it needs a strong framework of architects if it is to deliver such a large number of homes well.

“For many years we have had a relatively small programme and struggled to [build the numbers we wanted]. BeFirst has a different investment vehicle to deliver that at scale and pace,” said a spokesman.

“We need to gather a framework to give us a good choice of architects.”

Burbridge Close - Ilchester Road_Dagenham by Peter Barber

Burbridge Close - Ilchester Road in Dagenham by Peter Barber for BeFirst

It is also investigating offsite options and other modern methods of construction, and a spokesman said bids from architects with experience of this would be welcomed.

“We are looking for quality and sustainability, innovative design and innovative use of new materials,” said the spokesman.

Crown House, a 200-home scheme by Carey Jones Chapman Tolcher in Barking town centre, goes to planning this evening (Monday, 18 March).

BeFirst was set up 18 months ago to accelerate regeneration in the borough on 400ha of development land. It is wholly owned by the council and counts Bob Kerslake and Peter Murray on its board.