Key Points
- Major Purchase: The council reached a deal worth £30 million, acquiring 95 newly built houses from property firm Hurlington Capital at Bollo Yard, Bollo Lane, located between Acton Town and South Acton.
- Change in Classification to Social Rent: From being meant for use for shared ownership and affordable rent of up to 80% of market value, all the 95 properties are to be exclusively converted to social housing for locals.
- Properties Breakdown: The recently bought residential block consists of 27 one-bedroom, 60 two-bedroom, and eight three-bedroom units.
- Financial Plan: The cabinet agreed on a base price of £29.15 million, plus £1.13 million for costs related to the project, using a combination of borrowed funds and a grant from the Greater London Authority.
- Housing Policy: This is the third major housing bulk purchase deal the council has made since June 2025, totaling 385 new homes, with the total amount spent estimated to be about £130 million.
- Timeline and Progress: The demolition process has started in Bollo Yard, with full completion expected by 2028.
- Pressure from Local Demand: According to the figures provided by the local authorities, there are currently over 6,000 families still waiting to be accommodated in local council property, and many others are stuck in temporary housing facilities.
Acton (Extra London News) September 3, 2026 — Ealing Council has officially pushed forward with its aggressive municipal housing acquisition strategy, announcing a landmark £30 million financial agreement to purchase 95 brand-new residential apartments in Acton. As reported by journalist Leslie Bunder of Ealing.News, the transaction targets properties situated at Bollo Yard along Bollo Lane, bridging the Acton Town and South Acton neighbourhoods. Bought directly from private developer Hurlington Capital, the latest block acquisition forms a central pillar of the local authority’s wider campaign to alleviate severe pressures on its municipal housing register.
Why Is Ealing Council Buying Private Developments in Bulk?
Faced with declining affordable housing starts across the wider London region and an escalating local housing emergency, Ealing Council has increasingly turned toward direct market acquisitions to secure stock. As reported by journalist Leslie Bunder of Ealing.News, the local authority’s cabinet formally greenlit the Bollo Yard transaction, which features a baseline purchase price of £29.15 million supported by an additional £1.13 million earmarked for associated project and acquisition overheads.
When detailing the financial mechanics of the transaction, Ealing.News outlined that the capital outlay is being assembled through a targeted blend of external financial support from the Greater London Authority (GLA) grant streams and institutional borrowing. Council officers calculated that the acquisition equates to roughly £318,700 per individual home—representing substantial fiscal prudence when measured against broader open-market valuations for comparable new-build properties across West London, which hover near an estimated average of £564,100. Furthermore, under the terms negotiated by the council, the development’s integrated commercial space will be leased back to Hurlington Capital via a 999-year peppercorn lease.
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What Led to the Shift Towards 100% Social Rent?
A critical element of the Bollo Yard transaction involves a complete pivot in tenure type for the incoming residents. Initial planning specifications for the development—housed within a single block reaching up to 11 storeys at its highest point—stipulated a split between shared ownership models and affordable rent options priced as high as 80% of local market rates. However, because construction works and structural layouts were already underway, the structural mix could not be altered, leaving the council free to secure the entirety of the block for deep-subsidy social housing.
Consequently, all 95 apartments—consisting of 27 one-bedroom flats, 60 two-bedroom units, and eight three-bedroom family properties—will be let exclusively as social rent homes. Highlighting the rationale behind this definitive tenure shift, Councillor Louise Brett, Ealing Council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for safe and genuinely affordable homes, stated that:
“By buying homes and letting them to local people at genuinely affordable rents, we are taking decisive action to tackle the borough’s ongoing housing crisis.”
How Severe Is the Housing Crisis in Ealing?
The urgency driving the local authority’s acquisition strategy is rooted in stark demographic and waiting list statistics compiled by the council. According to data released by Ealing Council, more than 6,000 households are actively registered on the waiting list for a secure council home. Deeper administrative breakdowns from council reports indicate that over 3,000 families are currently surviving within temporary accommodation arrangements.
The waiting times for specific property sizes reveal deep structural bottlenecks in the local housing market. Families requiring a three-bedroom council property face an average waiting period of roughly 10 years, a figure that stretches to an extraordinary 13 years for larger four-bedroom homes. Meanwhile, applicants seeking a standard two-bedroom flat endure an average wait of six years. Local housing advocates note that acquiring blocks like Bollo Yard represents one of the few viable mechanisms to bypass sluggish construction timelines and inject immediate relief into the pipeline for families stuck in temporary housing.
What Are the Broader Impacts of the Council’s Acquisition Programme?
The Bollo Yard transaction does not stand in isolation; rather, it represents the third major chapter in a broader municipal purchasing spree executed by Ealing Council over the past year. As documented by Ealing.News, the local authority has successfully integrated three major bulk-buy agreements since June 2025, amassing a combined portfolio of 385 newly built homes at an aggregate investment of approximately £130 million.
The council’s acquisition journey began in June 2025, when leadership agreed to a £51.36 million deal to secure 180 homes located within the Berkeley Group’s expansive Green Quarter development in Southall. That initial multi-million-pound commitment secured a vital mix of 96 properties dedicated to social rent alongside 84 units assigned to London Living Rent.
Shortly after the Southall breakthrough, Ealing Council moved swiftly to commit £49 million toward the purchase of 110 homes at Acton Gardens. Those properties—comprising 44 one-bedroom layouts, 61 two-bedroom configurations, and five three-bedroom residences—had initially been earmarked by private market developers for standard open-market private sale before being intercepted and brought into the public housing sector.
What Happens Next on the Bollo Yard Site?
With the cabinet formally sealing the agreement and financial allocations secured through GLA contributions and borrowing, physical transformation of the location has already begun. Heavy machinery has moved onto the Bollo Lane property, and initial demolition activities are actively underway.
Project managers and municipal planners anticipate that construction works will progress steadily over the next couple of years, with the final structural completions, internal fittings, and tenant handovers slated for 2028 (specifically projected across fiscal quarters Q1 and Q2 of 2028/29). As bulldozers clear the old structures on Bollo Lane, the local authority maintains that these 95 newly secured social homes will provide a long-term anchor of stability for hundreds of individuals currently trapped in Ealing’s protracted housing backlog.
