HUNDREDS more homes-to-let are to be built by Ealing Council.

In total, the sites approved this week will include more than 300 new homes. Of these, 181 will be council homes to let.

They include 71 specifically designed for older people on the Steyne Road estate in Acton, a five-storey block of 84 at the site of the former Northolt Grange community centre and a four-storey block of 26 at Sussex Crescent, Northolt.

Eight other new homes at Northolt Grange and 117 further homes at Steyne Road will be available as shared ownership – to help people get on the housing ladder - or will be sold.

Work is expected to get underway at all three sites in March and is likely to be completed between late 2024 and early 2026.

Ealing Council says it has experienced a big rise in the number of families at risk of becoming homeless.

Cllr Peter Mason, leader of the Labour-run council, said: “London’s affordable housing crisis has left many hardworking people without a place to call their own.

"We know what a huge difference these safe, secure, affordable and energy-efficient flats and houses will make to the families who move into them.”

IN a separate development, there is opposition to building three tower blocks on the current Waitrose site in Alexandria Road, West Ealing.

John Lewis Partnership, which owns Waitrose, is looking to demolish the existing 17-year-old supermarket and replace it with blocks of up to 19 storeys high.

Opposition by residents groups was shown at a heated planning meeting in Ealing Town Hall.

Cllr Jon Ball, Liberal Democrat spokesperson on planning and housing, said: “While we recognise the importance of providing the additional genuinely affordable housing that residents need, unchecked tall buildings harm the character of our borough.

“Nineteen storeys is far too high for that location, as admitted by the Labour administration in their own local plan. John Lewis should go back to the drawing board.”