A groundbreaking ceremony has been held to commemorate the start of works on two hostels in Camden, a project that aims to support and provide temporary housing for people within the borough.
To celebrate the transformative milestone, representatives from Morgan Sindall Construction’s London business; Cabinet Member for New Homes and Community Investment, Councillor Nasrine Djemai; Cabinet Member for Better Homes, Councillor Sagal Abdi-Wali; and local councillors Cllr Anna Wright and Cllr Camron Aref-Adib, gathered at the Chester Road site in December.
Procured through the PAGABO framework, Camden Council appointed Morgan Sindall as the main contractor to deliver to the project. Due to complete in summer 2026, the hostels will support those who do not have a home and need a safe, good quality, and secure place to live – which could be as a result of a sudden eviction, life event, or those escaping domestic violence.
In London, there are currently 175,000 people living in temporary accommodation, more than the rest of the country combined. And with 70% of these temporary accommodation households living in costly, nightly paid accommodation, the Council hopes that the Camden Hostels development will relieve this expense on households while easing the demand on local bed and breakfasts.
The development will include two hostels, consisting of 39 units on Camden Road and 50 units on Chester Road. Both hostels will include a mixture of single and double beds and each unit will be fitted with its own bathroom.
The wider sites have been designed to accommodate a community room, staff room, and outside gardens with benches and play areas for children, creating a neighbourhood feel and helping residents feel at home and in a welcoming environment while they wait for more permanent housing.
Morgan Sindall has committed to a full employment and skills plan throughout works, drawing on their extensive social value experience when working in Camden to maximise opportunities on the project for apprentices, work placements, and local charities, all while involving the local community.
Richard Dobson, Area Director of Morgan Sindall Construction in London, said: “This project is incredibly important to the people of Camden, helping to ease the strain that homelessness has on families in the borough. It means a lot for the team to be part of developing Camden Hostels, where our work can help provide a warm shelter and safe roof over the heads of people who need it. Overall, we can’t wait to see the units come to life for the community.
“We’re also looking forward to continuing our close and collaborative relationship with Camden Council, which has been built up over a number of other projects in the borough, during this development. A central part of this will be getting to know the local community through the various social initiatives and apprenticeship programmes we have planned.”
Councillor Nasrine Djemai, Cabinet Member for New Homes and Community Investment said: “Our Community Investment Programme is not only helping to tackle the housing crisis by building more high-quality, family-sized homes, but we are also delivering better quality temporary accommodation like the Camden Road and Chester Road hostels to support people in the short-term who do not have a secure place to call home.
“This new temporary accommodation will be energy efficient, safe, secure and be built to the highest quality. Alongside this we want to ensure this development benefits local communities and as part of the works, contractors will provide apprenticeships, work experience placements and ring-fence job vacancies for local people.”
Councillor Sagal Abdi-Wali, Cabinet Member for Better Homes said: “Building more temporary accommodation is a crucial responsibility for Camden as we can help support those in desperate need of a safe place to stay until a more longer-term solution is allocated. By investing in two high-quality hostels, we can also reduce how much we spend each year on hotel and out-of-borough temporary accommodation, reallocating that money into our services and building more high-quality council homes for local people and families.”
Morgan Sindall recently handed over the Central Somers Town development, which created new affordable housing within Camden. The project for Camden Living, procured by PAGABO framework on behalf of Camden Council, saw two buildings consisting of one, two, and three-bedroom homes created alongside a new community space.
