Interhousing the key to affordable homes for local teachers

Eight local teachers have moved into refurbished flats in two beautiful converted Georgian houses in Shepherds Bush, which have been revamped in a partnership between Hammersmith & Fulham Council and a local housing association.

The eight flats in Lime Grove were earmarked for local teachers at below market rents after the houses were leased by the council to Threshold Housing, which carried out the refurbishment and now manages the properties.

The teachers were placed in the Lime Grove flats by the council's teacher recruitment team and Interhousing, a local key worker housing agency, working with Threshold's key homes initiative.

Four one-bedroom flats, prioritised for couples, are rented out at £115 a week (excluding bills) and the remaining four studio flats are rented out at £92 a week (excluding bills). The rents are significantly less than the market rate for equivalent flats in the area.

David Thompson, 33, a drama teacher at Phoenix High School, in White City, has moved into one of the studio flats. He said: "I spent the last two-and-a-half years living in north east London and it used to take me well over an hour to get to work. Now it's more like a ten-minute walk. Working at any school in London is a demanding job but having a great place like this close to work makes it a lot easier."

The borough's mayor, Cllr Charlie Treloggan, who officially welcomed three of the eight teachers to their new flats on Monday (18 July), said: "These lovely flats at affordable rents will make an important difference to the lives of local teachers. They are more likely to continue their careers in this borough if they can find good quality, reasonably-priced accommodation which is close to work.

Key worker housing is an important part of our strategy to recruit and retain teachers and other public sector staff. The council has been involved in many affordable housing initiatives and partnerships such as these are an excellent way to alleviate the difficulties faced by staff who are being priced out of decent and convenient accommodation by the high cost of renting and buying in London."

Ruth Staff, Interhousing research and strategy officer, said: "We are continually looking for opportunities to increase the availability of affordable key worker housing in the borough and maintain our joint working with the borough's public sector employers, offering them housing solutions to help them recruit and retain staff into those roles most vital to the borough's well-being."