We are pleased to announce that Wandle have recently taken handover of 6 affordable homes in Southwark developed by Featherstone Homes.

The 6 properties were purchased from Featherstone Homes, a leading property developer who specialise in creating contemporary and first-rate homes. Each property is suitable for families and includes a front garden and a private terrace for residents to spend time and relax.

The scheme on Lynton Road in Southwark has already provided 4 social rent properties and will deliver a further 2 shared ownership properties, which are currently being marketed for sale.

The properties are located within Bermondsey, which is known for its vibrant restaurants, markets, and galleries, while being situated within a peaceful neighbourhood in central London.

Anne Waterhouse, Chief Executive of Wandle said: “I am proud we can support families by supplying these much-needed homes in one of our key boroughs. These six affordable homes will provide a safe and affordable foundation for our residents to build a future.”

A family in Bermondsey can now look forward to their future after being moved into a Wandle property.

Ms O* and her two children, aged 12 and 10, were suffering for years, enduring domestic abuse by Ms O’s husband.

Ms O’s physical and mental wellbeing were massively affected by living in such conditions, that she found herself worrying about what the future held.

Due to the circumstances and the danger her and her children faced if they returned to their home, with the support of the police and social services, Southwark Council moved them into temporary accommodation. Due to their circumstances, they were assessed as homeless and remained in temporary accommodation whilst a permanent home was sourced.

After a year and a half, Southwark Council nominated them for a Wandle home in Bermondsey, a move that meant the children did not have to move schools and they could remain near their support network.

Like many families fleeing from domestic abuse, they had little to furnish their new home. To support them in setting up their new home, our resident support team provided £800 in vouchers to cover the necessary basics.

“Wandle have given me, and my children hope, and I am grateful for the help I have received. The £800 voucher has been a real lifesaver and has stretched to allow me to buy the basics for our home. I cannot thank Wandle enough.”

Ms O*

We take domestic abuse seriously at Wandle, we know how brave it is to escape this kind of behaviour and start again. We are DAHA (Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance) accredited and prioritise you and your family’s safety. You can read more about what constitutes domestic abuse on our specialist page – Domestic Abuse – Wandle Housing Association.

Wandle recently acquired 21 new homes as part of a mixed-tenure scheme in Southwark.

Developed by Camrose London, the scheme consists of 14 social rent homes and seven homes available for shared ownership.

Available in 2025, the scheme consists of 71 superbly designed studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, located near Burgess Park and within the award-winning Old Kent Road area – a London district poised for significant regeneration led-growth. In addition, residents will benefit from a shared amenity space, and a children’s playground.

Anne Waterhouse, Chief Executive of Wandle said, “We are delighted to be supplying these new homes to people who would otherwise struggle to afford a home of their own. Having a shared amenity space for all is an important feature we look for in our new schemes, contributing to helping break down the stigma facing social housing residents. I look forward to welcoming our new residents when they move in.”

We will keep you updated on this development as it takes shape.

We are pleased to confirm that, following a review, we will not be passing on any cost for historic building safety remediation works related to external wall systems to our homeowners in buildings above 11 metres or 5 storeys in height. 

Although there remains an option for landlords to recharge elements of these remediation works to homeowners, Wandle will seek to recover where possible, costs from the original developers and contractors and fund the balance. In addition, we will access the government support from the building safety fund when it becomes available.

Anne Waterhouse, Chief Executive at Wandle said, “The safety of our customers is our priority, and we are committed to providing homes that we would be happy to live in. We have considered the regulations in the Building Safety Act that seeks to protect homeowners from having to meet building safety remediation costs. We appreciate that this uncertainty has impacted our homeowners, and we are pleased to be able to now provide assurance that this won’t be a cost borne by our homeowners.” 

This homeowner protection applies to buildings of and above 11m or 5 storeys in height. For homeowners living in below 11m buildings, we will continue to seek appropriate and proportionate lower cost mitigations as well as hold to account any responsible party to recover costs if we have a legal basis to do so. 

We are working hard to progress the negotiations with the original developers and warranty providers so that we can determine the timing for the works to be delivered. We will be keeping our homeowners updated about the scheduled plan of works throughout the programme’s duration, in the meantime all affected buildings have appropriate safety mitigations in place.  

Wandle’s Community Safety team have successfully helped relocate one vulnerable resident move closer to their family and friends after a difficult period. 

The resident was living in Kingston and was suffering from a drug addiction and mental health problems. They had previously spent time in prison due to a history of substance abuse and theft to support their habit. In the summer of 2022, an anti-social behaviour case was raised due to concerns over the use of their property.  

Our Community Safety team checked in on our resident and it became clear their flat was being used by unknown persons who were also struggling with substance abuse.  They’d often gain access through forceful means that intimidated the resident and their neighbours. 

The local police asked Wandle for assistance and the case was referred to the Local Authority Community Multi-Agency Risk Assessment (CMARAC). We worked as a team to create an action plan to support the resident and decide on a resolution.  

Unfortunately, our customer was sent to prison again for a short period of time. To ensure the resident’s property was safe and to protect other residents, we secured and screened the property to guarantee nobody else could gain access.  

When our resident was released from prison, our amazing Community Safety Officer Claudette worked with local partners, the police, and a probation officer to help our resident into rehabilitation for their drug addiction and mental health issues.  

Eventually, the resident decided to move closer to their family in Portsmouth to continue their rehabilitation. They have now settled into their new home for a fresh start and away from the issues they experienced in Kingston. 

We always want to support our residents and maintain their tenancies, however, at times the best solution for all is to assist our customers find a new home so they can move on. 

At Wandle, we do not tolerate antisocial behaviour or criminal activity. If you need to report ASB, you can do this through MyWandle or by calling us on 0300 2000 120. 

We are pleased to announce our two free community days in August!

Please RVSP using the QR code on the poster and we look forward to seeing you there. if you are viewing this on your mobile, you can RSVP by visiting www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/RSVPwandle.

• Asda Café – Kids eat for £1 with no adult minimum spend in family-friendly Asda Cafes.
• Bella Italia – Kids eat for £1 with every adult main meal between 4pm and 6pm.
• Bill’s restaurants – Up to two kids can eat free when one adult orders any main dish.
• Bodean’s BBQ Smokehouses – Kids eat free for every adult meal purchased.
• Hungry Horse – Every Monday at the Hungry Horse, there are selected kids’ meals for £1 and larger meals for £1.50.
• Morrisons Café – Kids aged under 16 eat for free at any Morrisons café when an adult spends £4.99 or more on a meal.
• Pausa Café at Dunelm – Kids can get one free main meal, plus two snacks and a drink for every £4 spent by an adult at the café.
• The Real Greek – You can get a free kids meal for under 12s for every £10 spent on an adult meal.
• Sainsbury’s Cafes – One kid’s meal or lunch bag for £1 with any adult main meal purchased over £5.20.
• Westfield restaurants and cafes – Nearly 30 restaurants at Westfield London and Stratford City are offering free kids’ meals this half term, including Las Iguanas, Franco Manca and Big Easy, plus many more.
• Yo Sushi! – Kids under 10 eat free for every £10 spent on food by the accompanying adult.

Last Thursday, we held our first pub quiz of 2023, raising money for our chosen charity Pecan. This was a great chance for Wandle staff to socialise outside of work, whilst also supporting a great cause. The quiz raised £150 for Pecan’s Southwark foodbank, which will help many families in need.

Pecan exists to ensure that no one in Southwark goes hungry. Their vision is for a UK without the need for foodbanks.

For people in sudden crisis – redundancy, benefit delay, illness, or even an unexpected bill – can mean going hungry. Every day parents skip meals to feed their children and people are forced to choose between paying the rent, or heating bills, and eating. Every year they give food parcels to thousands of people in the local area.

Wandle’s New Homes pilot supports residents to downsize into a new home that is more affordable and comfortable to manage.  

We recently supported a family who have been Wandle residents for over 35 years and were looking to downsize into a smaller property that would become their forever home.  

Mr and Mrs H*, along with their son, had been living in their home in Balham for a considerate length of time and in turn, had outgrown their home.  

Our wonderful Project Liaison Officer, Ange Lewis, worked with the family to find them a new home and found them a lovely two-bed flat in Battersea with a beautiful garden.  

At Wandle, we believe it is important our residents think of their new homes as an extension of themselves; therefore, they make the decisions about how their new homes’ will look and feel. The H* family decided how each room should be decorated and worked with our amazing contractors to choose their preferred kitchen and bathroom to suit their personal style.  

Mrs H* thanked everyone who was involved at Wandle, who made their move possible. She wanted to personally thank their Liaison Officer, Angie Lewis, who guided them throughout the process and answered any questions they had. As well as our outstanding contractors who worked tirelessly to make their new house their forever home.  

Mrs H* said: “The work done by our contractor Dan and his team was outstanding! The flat and garden are lovely. It’s a new start and our last move! Once again thank you!”.  

JD* is a single mother to a 15-year-old son, who had recently signed a new tenancy with Wandle. Due to JD’s long-term health condition, she was unable to work and was struggling to purchase the essentials for her new home.

JD was informed of the Helping Hand Fund by our housing team and applied for financial support. Due to the urgency of JD’s case, our resident support team fast-tracked her application and she was awarded £1,000 in Argos vouchers. With the funds JD was awarded, this meant she was able to purchase white goods, rugs, bedding, and other household necessities to turn her new house into a home.

JD was extremely thankful for the help she’d received from Wandle and said, “I am so grateful for your help. It’s a big help for me and my son. Thank you so much!”.

Shortly after JD and her son had moved in, our Resident Support Officer Suzana Karakashi contacted them to see how they were doing.  

JD was very appreciative of the resident support team and advised she had since purchased a new washing machine, cooker and fridge freezer from the fund. Both JD and her son thanked Wandle for our support, advising they were both very happy and were settling into their new home.

Information about the Helping Hand Fund

The Helping Hand Fund is available to all Wandle residents who are financially struggling. It aims to support residents by providing vouchers for food and other household items from supermarkets, furniture, carpets, washing machines, essential white goods, and even technology as internet access is now essential for Universal Credit and other online services. Please note that the fund is not to be used to cover your rent.

Applications for the Helping Hand Fund are now open. You can apply by emailing helpinghandfund@wandle.com.