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Tenants moved into six new council homes built on small sites across the borough last week as the Town Hall’s drive to build on every available space of land it owns continues apace.

The new homes were built in King Henry’s Walk, off Balls Pond Road, Bennett Court in Holloway and Thorpedale Road, Upper Holloway, replacing old accommodation and underused car parking spaces and garages.

Two new garages were also built as part of the schemes, known as “infill” because they utilise smaller, poorly used areas beside existing homes.

The Town Hall has committed to building 500 new homes for social rent over the course of this administration (2014-2019) and says it is on track to deliver this. To achieve this goal, council officers have been scouring every bit of publicly owned land to explore opportunities for house building in recent years, often choosing car parks and old garages as sites for redevelopment.

Last year, 44 new council homes were completed and Councillor Diarmaid Ward, Islington’s housing chief, said the council is either building or about to build another 305 during this financial year. It is part of a five-year 2,000 overall affordable homes target across the borough, which has a council waiting list of 19,000 households.

“Islington has a huge shortage of affordable housing,” Cllr Ward said. “That’s why we’ve embarked upon its biggest home building scheme in recent memory and have committed to building 500 homes for social rent by 2019.

“With over 300 homes being built or about to be built this financial year, we’re well on our way to achieving this target and delivering the homes our local residents need.”

However, the government’s plans to reduce council rents by one per cent will mean “dramatic reductions” in the Town Hall’s housing budget, Cllr Ward warned, adding: “We will need to carefully review how much money we have to invest in affordable homes in the future.”

Recently completed larger new-build projects in Islington include Brunswick Court, near Goswell Road, Lyon House, off Caledonian Road, and Parkhurst Road in Holloway.

Future developments currently under consultation include schemes on the Andover estate in Finsbury Park, the Parkview estate in Highbury, and the Triangle estate in Finsbury.