Islington and Shoreditch Housing Association (ISHA) was announced as the overall winner of the National Housing Awards in London for their involvement in The Scene at Cleveland Place project in Walthamstow.
The scheme has been credited for helping transform Walthamstow in East London into “Awesomestow”, creating a 1,200 seat cinema, five restaurants and a community of 121 new homes, more than half of which is affordable housing.
The scheme built on Waltham Forest’s rich cinematic history as the birthplace of iconic director Alfred Hitchcock and was a joint venture between ISHA, Hill Group and Waltham Forest Council. Members of the community were involved in contributing ideas towards the scheme in its four years of planning and the resulting scheme has created in excess of 100 new jobs in the area, 34 of which have gone to local residents. The project has acted as a catalyst for ongoing regeneration and further investment in the town, including a £22m development behind Walthamstow Central Station and additional investment in a shopping centre.
The National Housing Awards are run by the National Housing Federation to celebrate excellence in affordable housing. This year the awards were presented by comedian Marcus Brigstocke at the ceremony on 10 September at the Lancaster hotel in London. Other winners included Paragon, Origin Housing, Viridian Housing, Hastoe Housing Association, The Hyde Group, Family Mosaic, Isos Housing, Connect Housing, L&Q and A2Dominion.
David Orr, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said: “Right across the country housing associations are adding value to local communities, building affordable homes and creating jobs. The National Housing Awards is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate this work and all of today’s winners should be proud of what they’ve achieved.
“Schemes like Islington and Shoreditch Housing Association’s The Scene at Cleveland Place project show that putting the right homes in the right places can be part of something much bigger, sparking new life into communities and bringing in additional investment.”