Homes at Balfron Tower go on sale

28/07/2022

Through a joint venture between Poplar HARCA, Telford Homes and Londonewcastle, 146 homes in the iconic Balfron Tower have been refurbished, along with new communal areas and extensive landscaping to the surrounding area.

139 of the newly refurbished apartments are now on sale, as the transformative works are nearing completion.

Features of the scheme include:

Open plan apartments: Ranging in size from one to four bedrooms
Six heritage flats: Preserving the original layout
New communal areas: Dining room, cookery room, gym, yoga room, cinema, library, music room, co-working room and roof top garden.
Sensitive design: Studio Egret West and AB Rogers Design have created a collection of distinctive interiors that make the most of the incredible views while remaining sensitive to the building’s original mid-century design.
Landscaping: Improved green spaces, seating areas, new children’s play area and a new car park

Sales of the homes are helping to fund new affordable housing on neighbouring estates in Poplar, such as the award-winning Brownfield estate, where many of Balfron’s former residents now live.

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The story so far

The 26-storey Balfron Tower was designed by brutalist architect Erno Goldfinger in 1967 and has long been a landmark of East London’s skyline.

Poplar HARCA took ownership of the building from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in 2008 as part of a wider stock transfer and promised to carry out much-needed renovation work.

As a Grade II* listed heritage building, the expensive refurbishment could only be achieved through the sale of properties, so a joint venture was formed with Telford Homes and Londonewcastle to deliver this.

The works are part of our wider regeneration of the Brownfield estate which has already delivered:

79 new affordable homes, including more larger 3 and 4 bed family homes
More than 650 refurbished homes brought up to Decent Homes Standard, including Grade II listed Carradale House (another Goldfinger-designed building)
3 new pocket parks, children’s play areas, sports facilities, trees and flowerbeds, and seating areas.
The Cabin, a new community centre

Keeping the community together

95% of Balfron Tower’s former residents stayed living in Tower Hamlets with 81% choosing to stay as Poplar HARCA residents, within one square mile of Balfron. Just four households chose to move further afield.

One in three of the families living in Balfron Tower were already registered to move due to overcrowding. For them, this was an opportunity to move to a more suitable home far sooner than would otherwise have been possible.

Seven leaseholders decided to return to the building, upon completion of their newly renovated homes.

What our residents say

“Myself, my wife and our four children lived in a 2 bedroom flat in Balfron Tower. It was very difficult. We’ve now moved to a 4 bedroom house where they have space to study and relax. We’re really happy in our new home and love the patio and garden.”

“The area has improved so much over the last few years. The new homes and community spaces look great; I don’t even recognise some of the older blocks and outside spaces, they look so good. The regeneration works have brought new life to our estate and made it a better, brighter place to live. I am proud to call Brownfield home.”

“I have lived on the Brownfield Estate for almost 40 years. The improvement since regeneration is amazing. It has introduced more than one play area that provides a safe space for children of varying ages to have somewhere of their own. Most importantly, tenants with disabilities were provided with wheelchair accessible flats that didn’t exist prior to these works. “