Hackney Council is developing plans to convert two recently closed primary schools into temporary accommodation and affordable housing, in a move that reflects the shifting pressures facing inner-London boroughs as pupil numbers continue to fall. A report presented to cabinet last week set out proposals to spend £1.9m on surveys and early design work at De Beauvoir Primary School in Dalston and Randal Cremer Primary School in Hoxton.
Both schools shut their doors in September 2024 after years of declining admissions. Hackney is far from alone: a growing number of inner-city boroughs have been forced to merge or close schools as the birth rate drops and funding tightens. With funding tied largely to pupil numbers, many schools have found themselves on increasingly precarious financial ground. The result has been a wave of closures that, in turn, leave behind buildings that are expensive to maintain and politically sensitive to dispose of.
In Hackney’s case, the council says it is currently spending around £1m a year on “holding costs” to keep the two empty sites safe and secure. Caretakers, security measures and ongoing maintenance are needed to protect buildings at high risk of illegal occupation and deterioration.
Rather than let the sites sit idle, the council believes the buildings could play a role in easing acute housing pressures. Early assessments suggest the two schools could deliver up to 101 homes through a combination of conversions of existing buildings and new infill development on former playgrounds. These figures are based on general needs housing space standards and will be tested further through the design phase.
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A business case is now being prepared for submission to the Department for Education, which must approve any change of use from education to residential. Hackney has already begun what it describes as “initial discussions” with the department about the proposals, which focus on meeting local need for temporary accommodation and affordable homes.
Caroline Woodley, mayor of Hackney, said: “I have always been determined that the schools we have had to close due to falling rolls will not sit empty or be sold to the highest bidder, but instead be repurposed for the benefit of the community and to help address the challenges we face.
“Hackney’s housing crisis is one of the underlying causes of the fall in pupil numbers that has forced these school closures, so it’s right that we now explore opportunities to repurpose some of these sites to help people in need of temporary accommodation and affordable homes.
“We are at a very early stage of this process, considering how these sites could be reconfigured, the permissions needed to convert education use to accommodation and whether we can future-proof the sites should pupil numbers rise again in future.”
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