The Mayor of London visited Croydon on Wednesday to hand the keys over to some of the first council houses built in the borough for 20 years.

Boris Johnson met with the owners of a brand new five bedroom eco-house in Sumner Gardens, West Croydon and was given a tour around their new council owned property.

The 13 houses, which cost between 130,000 and 160,000 to build, will enable Croydon council to keep the council tax generated from them for the next six-years which according to deputy leader and cabinet member for housing, Councillor Dudley Mead, will be pumped back into making more social housing.

Mr Johnson said: “These houses are stupendous value for money and conform to the ideas set out in the London Housing Design Guide.

More than 60 per cent of the heating will come from the solar panels on the roof and 15 per cent of the electricity will come from the wind turbines.

The Mayor was greeted by council tenants Erica and John McCartney who showed him around the new five bedroom home they are due to move into this week. Previously, the family of seven had been living in a three bedroom flat.

Mr McCartney said: “The place is really nice and really well built. We have four large rooms and a room we’ll use as a spare, three bathrooms and great size garden, we have been quite lucky with this one.

Mr McCartney, a builder and Erica, a dental nurse used to live in Shirley with their five children but moved to the Sumner Gardens site when they heard it was being made available.

The 13 houses are part of a bigger scheme that will see hundreds of new council owned housing being built in the borough over the next two years.

Coun Mead said: “I’m delighted that the Mayor has come to see our excellent new council houses. Croydon is leading the way with these homes and setting new standards in affordable house building and sustainable design.

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