IN Brief:
- Hounslow Council has appointed Higgins Partnerships to deliver 182 social-rent homes at Charlton House and Albany House.
- The redevelopment will replace 92 existing homes, with around 30% of the new properties designed for larger families.
- Construction is expected to begin in autumn 2026 as part of Hounslow’s wider council-housing programme.
Higgins Partnerships has been appointed by Hounslow Council to deliver 182 council homes through the regeneration of Charlton House and Albany House in Brentford, with construction expected to begin this autumn.
The scheme will replace 92 ageing homes with 182 energy-efficient properties for social rent. Around 30% of the new homes are planned as larger family properties, increasing the estate’s overall housing capacity while addressing demand for accommodation beyond smaller flats.
Ground-floor commercial space is included alongside more than 2,500 square metres of landscaped green space. The project has also undergone an estate ballot, with more than 87% of participating residents voting in favour of redevelopment.
The contractor appointment moves the programme towards mobilisation after resident engagement and development work. Construction on an occupied or partially occupied estate requires demolition, decanting, temporary access, utility work, safeguarding, and replacement housing to be coordinated around an established residential community.
Those constraints will shape the phasing of the 182 homes. Demolition and new construction need to be sequenced against resident moves, site access, compounds, temporary pedestrian routes, existing utilities, and the availability of completed replacement accommodation.
Declan Higgins, chief executive officer of Higgins Group, said: “We are delighted to be appointed by Hounslow Council to deliver this landmark regeneration scheme. Providing 182 high-quality, low-carbon council homes, the development will make a lasting difference to residents’ lives while supporting the council’s ambition to create sustainable, thriving communities.”
The replacement buildings will be delivered against current requirements covering fire safety, energy performance, accessibility, overheating, drainage, and long-term maintainability. Detailed design and construction quality will determine how those requirements are translated into buildings that remain practical for the council to operate over several decades.
Higgins will also deliver social-value commitments linked to the construction programme. Hounslow says these include work-experience placements, business support for voluntary and community organisations, and more than 750 hours of volunteering across local projects and support networks.
The supply chain is likely to cover demolition, groundworks, structure, façades, building services, fit-out, landscaping, and external works. Programme coordination between those packages becomes particularly important on estate regeneration because access and resident interfaces can restrict the number of workfaces available at any one time.
Resident moves and contractor mobilisation will need to be coordinated carefully before demolition accelerates. Clear sequencing between decant, temporary access, service disconnections, and the release of individual work areas will reduce the risk of programme disruption once heavier construction activity begins.
The social-rent tenure also places close attention on capital cost and lifecycle performance. Unlike mixed-tenure schemes that can rely partly on open-market receipts, council housing programmes depend on public investment, borrowing, grant where available, and continued control of specification and change through construction.
Energy performance will depend on the interaction between fabric, airtightness, thermal bridging, ventilation, heating, controls, commissioning, and resident handover. Installing efficient equipment alone does not guarantee lower operational demand if the envelope performs poorly or controls are difficult to use and maintain.
The larger family-home component affects floorplate planning, storage, circulation, refuse provision, play-space requirements, and the balance between private and shared external areas. Those decisions also need to reflect existing residents who may move into the replacement homes rather than an entirely new occupier population.
Other London boroughs are using different development models to increase affordable supply. At Pudding Mill Lane in Newham, the first approved phase includes 355 homes, 282 of them affordable, with construction also expected to begin in autumn 2026. The Brentford scheme is smaller, but all 182 replacement homes will be for social rent.
Construction activity beside occupied homes will make communication and temporary arrangements a continuing project-control issue. Noise, dust, vehicle movements, deliveries, pedestrian routes, working hours, and safeguarding all need to be managed through a programme expected to run for considerably longer than the initial demolition and enabling phase.
Charlton House and Albany House form part of Hounslow Council’s commitment to deliver 1,000 new council homes across the borough. The Higgins appointment gives the estate a main delivery partner and an expected autumn start, with the next milestones centred on mobilisation, phasing, and the practical sequence for replacing 92 homes with 182.
