Jennie Coombs has worked for the borough of Barking and Dagenham for 32 years. The housing veteran has seen Barking change from the mid-2000’s, when the British National Party successfully secured 12 seats on the council in the mid-2000s. Today, the Labour Party’s Nesil Caliskan is the local member of parliament for Barking, making history as the first British MP of Turkish Cypriot origin.

Barking and Dagenham was one of the most deprived areas in London, but with new funding there are plans to deliver 35,000 new homes and 10,000 new jobs over the next 20 years, concentrated in seven growth hubs. These hubs are targeted at sectors ranging from the creative arts to bio-sciences, and from high-tech and green industries to construction and manufacturing.

JOIN OUR BUS TOUR | Be First Buildings in Barking and Dagenham

Jennie Coombs, head of affordable housing at Be First, will be one of the guides on the London Society’s bus tour of contemporary architecture in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham.

What are your highlights of what's happening in Barking now?

It’s really going to be around housing, as it is so important. The redevelopment of the Gascoigne estate in Barking, which will deliver over 1,500 new homes. There’s a large new park and play area, a climbing wall and extensive planting and trees. To encourage active travel, 300 cycle spaces have also been included in the new development.

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Could you explain what you mean by affordable housing?

I’ve spent my life explaining it! Affordable housing is a generic term for anything that's submarket. So under what you would expect to pay in the market. But within the affordable housing definition are a number of different tenures and different rent levels and different market prices. I'm sure people don't really understand it, I sometimes I struggle with it, and I've been working with it for 30 years. I think more needs to be done in the industry to explain that to people and to give people the right pathway for their circumstances.

What’s your attitude to people trying to find housing today?

I do feel very sorry for young people, trying to get on the housing ladder or on the rental ladder in London. And there is no really easy answer to it. You know, there's always going to be places that are going to be cheaper, and that people might not necessarily want to live there.

How has Barking changed over the years?

There's much more diversity in the population now, and the council stock has obviously drastically reduced, and the right to buy has drastically reduced the amount of stock that the council has to offer. That with a growing homelessness has put real, real pressure on the council's housing stock. So I would sum it up that in 1992 I literally had to go out and find people for some blocks of flats to allocate. You can't believe that, can you? And now, there's 1,000 people waiting for every property.

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Name some good things about Barking and Dagenham?

We've got the beautiful Abbey Green, which is an ancient monument in the middle of town. And the new estate on the edge of the River Roding, Fresh Wharf. The transportation network is fantastic. I think it's second in London after Stratford. And the Overground link has really changed the game. So it all helps to support the ambitions we’ve got. Barking is a very affordable place to live, and that's got to be a good thing for the communities that want to live here.

Have you had any pushback about the new schemes for Barking?

I think a lot of big regeneration areas have come under quite a lot of criticism for the infrastructure not keeping pace with the housing development. But we’re different, as the town centre itself already had a lot of infrastructure in place.

How much have you worked with the local community?

We did some consultation with people about what they'd like to see in the area. And a woman came up to me and said, “I'd like to be able to buy a cucumber on a Sunday afternoon.” So it’s those stories that stick with you. We are doing quite a lot of work with the city markets, and we've got people in the inclusive growth team in the council working specifically on healthy food choices.

Do you have any pet gripes?

I've got a bee in my bonnet about how spaces are managed, and how we make communities take more responsibility for the places they live in. You know, look up from your phone. There's litter on the floor. Nobody else is going to pick it up if you don't. Take pride in where you live.

JOIN OUR BUS TOUR | Be First Buildings in Barking and Dagenham