Talks between the Greater London Authority (GLA) and Enfield Council will start imminently to agree the terms of a £33 million financial package designed to stimulate house building.

The Council recently acquired Housing Zone status from the GLA for the Edmonton Futures area – the parts of the borough surrounding the £3.5 billion Meridian Water mega-development.

The new Housing Zone designation is expected to help Enfield Council expand the benefits of Meridian Water, which will provide 10,000 homes and 10,000 jobs and significant infrastructure improvements, into neighbouring communities and help lift the wards in the area out of the most deprived in the United Kingdom.

Enfield Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing & Housing Regeneration, Cllr Ahmet Oykener, said: “Gaining Housing Zone designation for Edmonton Futures is great news because it will help to sweep away red tape and help us get the high quality and affordable homes our residents desperately need built far more quickly than we normally would be able to.

“We want to extend the enormous benefits Meridian Water will provide, beyond the development itself and into the surrounding area, and we can now do that thanks to this decision.

“We are essentially creating a corridor of opportunity in the east of the borough which will help is provide high class homes, infrastructure, jobs and opportunities for local people and help to lift the wards they live in out of deprivation.”

Edmonton Futures borders the existing Meridian Water Housing Zone as well similar zones in Tottenham and Walthamstow.

New homes are desperately needed in the borough with Enfield’s population projected to exceed 400,000 by 2032. In order to meet demand Enfield Council aims to provide 798 new homes a year each year until 2025.

Members of Enfield Council’s cabinet agreed in September to start negotiations with the GLA to agree the terms of the financial package.