APPRENTICES and unemployed Hackney workers will be taken on to build new Hackney Council homes for social renting near Victoria Park.

Linden Homes was chosen by the Council’s Cabinet Procurement Committee last night (18 November) for the £4million scheme on King Edward’s Road, which includes landscaped garden space, a mix of 15 one- to four-bedroom homes for social rent, plus 17 homes for private sale to help pay for the development.

Four apprenticeships and a quarter of the Linden Homes workforce will be drawn from Hackney residents, through the Council’s Ways Into Work programme.

Cllr Philip Glanville, Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “Amid the housing crisis, we are continuing to deliver new Council homes for social renting as part of a borough-wide programme amid highly challenging financial circumstances, and while supporting local residents into work.”

Planning permission for the development was gained last year, with work expected to start on site in the coming weeks. The 15 homes for social renting will be complete by Spring 2016, with those for sale shortly afterwards.

The scheme contains bicycle storage and two parking spaces for disabled people but otherwise, in accordance with Greater London Authority and local requirements, it is a car-free development, meaning no other car parking spaces and no eligibility for parking permits in neighbouring streets.

The King Edward’s Road development is part of a borough-wide Council housing regeneration programme delivering more than 2,760 homes for social renting, shared ownership and private sale. So far 201 for social renting have been completed, including at , on , and Dunnock Mews, near Hackney Downs park.