Waterloo and Queen Street in Havering is a scheme of 18 two- and three-bedroom meanwhile use homes, delivered by Rollalong in partnership with Wates Residential for the London Borough of Havering. The homes form part of Havering’s 12 Sites Regeneration Programme, a long-term partnership between the council and Wates Residential that will transform several estates and bring thousands of new homes to the borough. These meanwhile use homes put the site to good use, providing safe, high-quality temporary accommodation for families who need it now. Built offsite at Rollalong’s Dorset factory using modular construction, the homes were delivered quickly and with minimal disruption to the surrounding area, offering the council a flexible approach to temporary accommodation.
Client
London Borough of Havering
Contractor
Wates Residential
Total modules
48
Location
Romford, Havering
The Challenge
Havering Council’s 12 Sites Regeneration Programme, delivered in partnership with Wates Residential, will bring thousands of new homes to the borough. The main Waterloo Estate redevelopment is still in planning and design, though, and families in temporary accommodation need safe, comfortable homes now.
The site at Waterloo and Queen Street had to be put to good use while it waited for its long-term future. The borough also needed extra capacity to ease housing pressure during the regeneration, and to keep its promise that residents affected by the works would have quality homes, with the chance to return to new properties on the estate later.
The Solution
Rollalong built and delivered 18 Meanwhile Use homes, working closely with Wates Residential and Havering Council’s housing and regeneration teams. The scheme combines two- and three-bedroom homes, giving the council a mix of family-sized accommodation to meet different housing needs. The homes are arranged in one- and two-storey blocks, with two homes in each one-storey block and four in each two-storey block, making efficient use of the site.
Because the homes are demountable, they are designed to move on. When the land is needed for the main Waterloo Estate redevelopment, the units can be demounted and relocated to a new site, and two-bedroom homes can be upgraded to three bedrooms (or more) between installations if required. Built in our Dorset factory, with most of the structure and interiors finished offsite, the homes arrive with consistent quality, and were installed with minimal disruption.
The Outcome
The Waterloo & Queen Street development is complete. The 18 homes give local families in need safe, comfortable temporary accommodation in place of emergency or short-term housing, and they make productive use of the site ahead of its longer-term development.
The scheme adds valuable capacity for Havering while the wider estate regeneration moves forward, and it supports the council’s commitment to residents affected by the works.
One of the key solutions is building the homes that we need, and in particular, social rented homes. And we also need interim solutions as well, while we build the social rented homes that we desperately need. That’s why solutions like this are so vital.
These units. They are well designed. They meet space standards. They’re energy efficient. And they’ve got a lifespan of 60+ years.
While they may only be temporary on one particular site, they can be moved around. In another sense, they are permanent, because they are providing a long-term solution, just moving to different sites.
