Sledgehammers were at the ready as a major redevelopment project in Enfield reached a key milestone. Enfield Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing, Cllr Ahmet Oykener took the first swipes to demolish Curtis House on the Ladderswood Estate.

Curtis House is the first of several residential buildings on the estate to be demolished to make way for the 3.2 hectare regeneration. Ladderswood’s 161 homes were built in the 1970s. The site currently has a mix of ageing council homes and light industrial units.

Enfield Council appointed New Ladderswood LLP, a joint venture between One Housing and building contractors Mulalley to create over 500 new homes, a community centre, a hotel and 1,400 sqm of commercial space. The regeneration will bring much needed job opportunities and quality housing for the community.

The first of the five phases started in March last year and will create 40 new homes – 23 affordable and 17 private sale, which will be completed in Autumn this year. The last phase is expected to be completed in Summer 2019.

Cllr Ahmet Oykener, Enfield Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing, said, “This is the start of a huge regeneration in this part of Enfield providing well designed homes in a pleasant environment and employment opportunities for local people.

Throughout the process we have engaged with local people to ensure that Ladderswood meets the needs of the local community. As part of the commitment to offering jobs and training to our local community the New Ladderswood LLP has also been working very closely with the Council and external training provider to ensure that young people have the opportunity to learn many aspects of the building industry.”

Alan Williams, Group Development Director at One Housing, commented: “We’re pleased to be partnering with Mulalley once again to create more homes for local people. The community is at the heart of this project with new high quality homes of varying tenure types, communal facilities and commercial space which will revitalise and enrich the local community.”

Mulalley Director, Eamon O’Malley added: “It’s extremely pleasing to reach another landmark in the regeneration of this estate. The removal of Curtis House and the clearance of the old industrial areas now enables us to accelerate this development and provide the exciting new homes and neighbourhood we and One Housing are keen to deliver.”