Focus On: The Community Self Build Legacy in Lewisham

There are exciting times ahead for community self build and groups wishing to create their own homes.

Earlier this summer, NaCSBA’s Right to Build Taskforce offered free advise for groups looking to kick-start their project. Not long after, the Government announced the Community Housing Fund, a £163 million pot to aid community led housing schemes.

And it was in Lewisham that The Rural Urban Synthesis Society (RUSS) gained planing permission for the largest community self build project in London.

The scheme was conceived as a solution to the growing needs of Lewisham residents to access good quality, affordable homes. The site will include 33 properties and cost £8.6m to build, with construction expected to start in late 2018 or early 2019.

I talked to Ted Stevens, a group’s trustee, about the community’s journey and how Walter Segal’s self build legacy in the area has shaped the next generation approach to homes.

How did RUSS start and what is the group’s vision for the future?

Back in the 1980s, architect Walter Segal pioneered a self build method based on simple home designs that were functional to the residents and easy to construct. Two projects – of 10 houses each – were erected in the London Borough of Lewisham.

Some of the original residents still live there and it’s their children who have decided to follow in their parents’ footsteps and embark on a similar project to create the homes they need. RUSS started when Kareem Days – who grew up in Walters Way – got together with his friends to plan a self build community.

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