Press release

• Pocket plans to develop a site on Bollo Lane, Ealing, to deliver 84 affordable 1-bedroom homes – double Pocket’s previous sites. 

• The homes will be sold to middle income Londoners for at least a 20% discount to the local market.

• For the first time, Pocket will also be including substantial commercial property in a development.

Affordable housing developer Pocket is planning its largest development yet in Chiswick with over 80 affordable homes and, for the first time in its history, commercial space.

Pocket is developing 84 affordable homes for middle-income Londoners on a 0.22 hectare site on Bollo Lane W4. This much needed affordable housing provision will be supported on-site by some one, two and three-bedroom flats to be sold on the open market.

In an ambitious move outside of the residential sector, Pocket will also provide 20,000 sq ft of commercial space over two floors. This means that singles, couples, families and businesses will live and work side-by-side on the same development.

The site was secured from a private land owner and is a convenient five minute walk from Chiswick Park and Acton stations in zone three. 

The site has a total GDV of over £50 million and the Planning Committee is expected to rule on it in the New Year.

This is Pocket’s third site in Ealing and will help the borough deliver 9% of their annual housing target. Multi-award winning PRP architects have been instructed to act on behalf of Pocket. 

The site will incorporate classic Pocket design features like floor to ceiling windows to allow for maximum light, double glazing for thermal efficiency and outstanding insulation for low heating bills.

The vast majority of the flats will be sold for at least a 20% discount to the local market and they will be a permanent addition to London’s affordable housing stock as future buyers will need to meet the same GLA-set income eligibility criteria.  Buyers will also own 100% of their home; this approach differs from more complicated shared equity schemes. 

The affordable homes will be designed specifically for singles and couples who currently live or work in Ealing. They are responding to the challenges faced by Londoners earning moderate incomes who find themselves trapped between the private market and social housing. 

More affordable homes are urgently needed for London’s city makers, its teachers, nurses and charity workers, who are currently priced out of the open market and salaried out of social housing. 

Pocket Land Director Nick Cuff said:

“As we scale up to meet the huge demand for Pocket homes in London, this site represents the first of a new wave of significant intermediate housing led schemes we will bring forward over the next 12 months.  This is our third scheme in Ealing and takes our pipeline to just under 1000 homes in production across London.”

“Chiswick is a vibrant area where city makers want to live. We think our site on Bollo Lane will be very popular and we look forward to delivering even more affordable Pocket homes in this sought after area.”