Barnsbury Estate Transformation
Ready for committee at Islington Town Hall on Tuesday 9th December!
We’ve reached an exciting milestone. On Tuesday 9th December, Islington Council’s planning committee voted in favour of our proposals for New Barnsbury.
Thank you for your support to the project in the lead up to the planning committee and to those who joined us to celebrate on the night.
We’re excited about what’s to come in 2026 and look forward to continuing this journey with the community.
New Barnsbury update
A government announcement in August 2023 proposed an introduction of additional safety regulations for new residential buildings which has meant we have had to put a hold on the estate transformation pending further information about the new requirements.
The regulations will bring in a key change that requires the inclusion of an additional staircase in the design of buildings over seven storeys. This will apply to most of the new buildings on the estate and therefore will require a change to the planning approval we received in March 23. Introducing a second staircase to the buildings will affect the number and/or size of homes we can build and we will be liaising with Islington planners to see how we can best achieve the changes once the government issue the guidance about the new regulations.
There are transitional arrangements that permit schemes with planning permission to proceed under the existing permission so we are exploring the possibility of starting Phase 1a to minimise the delay to the whole development.
We hope to be able to provide an update early next year. In the meantime more details can be found in our recent letter.
Old Barnsbury update
We hope you’ve all enjoyed a pleasant autumn and are looking forward to the festive season ahead.
As you may be aware, kitchen and bathroom refurbishment works at Fisher House and Corbet House are nearing completion and our contractor has now commenced work at Vittoria House.
Meanwhile, surveys are underway at Payne House and Roding House. Once these surveys are completed, a final decision will be made regarding the next location for refurbishment works. All residents will be informed in advance.
Progress updates, including photographs and videos of completed works, are available on the Newlon website. We would like to extend our sincere thanks for your patience and understanding throughout this process and we greatly appreciate the positive feedback you’ve provided through the satisfaction surveys.
The next phase of the project will focus on landscaping enhancements to the children’s playground and the surrounding areas of Fisher House. To support this, we held a Landscaping Workshop at Barnsbury Community Centre on Wednesday 26 November.
You can download the landscaping and estate-wide plans on the Consultation so far page where you will also find our November update flyer.
Please feel free to get in touch by emailing us at best@newlon.org.uk or calling us on 020 3234 2221.
Barnsbury Estate mutual exchange scheme
For Barnsbury residents who would like to swap homes with other residents on the estate, we now have a dedicated mutual exchange scheme.
Registering is easy, just fill out the registration form below to put your home on the register then attend one of our monthly drop-in surgeries to see which other homes are registered which would be suitable for you.
You can download the guide to registering for a mutual exchange below and if you need more information about the scheme, please call us on 020 8709 9172 or email us at BEST@newlon.org.uk.
- Download the Barnsbury mutual exchange registration form
- Download our guide to registering for a mutual exchange
To find out more, download the handy guide to mutual exchange at Barnsbury.
About the Barnsbury Estate
The Barnsbury Estate is owned by Newlon Housing Trust, a not-for-profit social housing provider, who took over management of the Estate from Islington Council in 1999.
The Estate is made up of two areas; Old Barnsbury is the red brick housing blocks between Charlotte Terrace and Barnsbury Road built in the 1930s and New Barnsbury is between Caledonian Road and Charlotte Terrace, which was built in the 1950s and 70s.
Illustration of what the Barnsbury Estate could look like on completion