Council Buys 95 Units in Bollo Yard Development

Flats in eleven storey building will cost around £30million

A visualisation of the Bollo Yard scheme which is due to be completed in 2028. Picture: Ealing Council

August 26, 2026

Ealing Council has agreed a major new housing deal that will see 95 flats at Bollo Yard on Sterling Road converted into socially rented homes, offering a significant boost for residents on the borough’s waiting list. The flats, part of a wider development on Bollo Lane, were originally intended for shared ownership and intermediate rent at 80% of market levels. Instead, every unit in the eleven-story building will now be let at social rents, at prices below those in the private sector.

The cabinet report recommending the purchase give a price of just over £29million which would equate to around £300,000 per flat. Acquisition costs will bring the total expense above £30million.

The agreement marks the council’s third major acquisition from private developers in just over a year, following deals to buy almost 200 homes in Southall and 110 in Acton. It comes against the backdrop of a sharply worsening picture for housebuilding in London. Between 2022 and 2024, the number of new homes delivered by councils and housing associations fell by 91%, driven by rising labour, materials and borrowing costs. Private developers are also struggling with viability and slow sales, prompting councils to step in to secure homes that might otherwise stall or be lost to the market.

Demand for affordable housing in Ealing remains acute. More than 6,000 households are currently on the waiting list for a council home, and thousands more are living in temporary accommodation, including bed and breakfasts, while they wait for a stable place to live. The Bollo Yard development will provide a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom homes, offering modern, energy-efficient accommodation for local families. Demolition work has already begun, with completion expected in 2028.

Councillor Louise Brett, deputy leader and cabinet member for safe and genuinely affordable homes, said the decision was part of a wider effort to tackle the borough’s housing crisis. “By buying homes and letting them to local people at genuinely affordable rents, we are taking decisive action,” she said. “Good homes are more than just a place to live – data shows that by providing a firm foundation, they will make health, good jobs, qualifications, and a happy family life all easier to obtain for the families who move in. Once completed, these high-quality new homes will help us in our mission to create communities filled with pride, identity, and purpose, where people can thrive.”

With average council rents in Ealing costing less than a quarter of equivalent private rents, the Bollo Yard deal represents a substantial expansion of the borough’s affordable housing stock at a time when many families are struggling to secure long-term, stable accommodation.