NEIGHBOURS angry about the lack of affordable housing due to be built on a former hospital site are campaigning to run the project themselves.

Part of St Ann’s Hospital, opposite Chesnuts Park, in South Tottenham, will be turned into new homes – much to the dismay of people who say the houses will be too expensive.

But campaign group St Ann’s Redevelopment Trust (START) are hoping to raise the £60,000 they need to secure the contract.

It is up to Barnet, Enfield and Haringey NHS Trust to ultimately decide who they want to sell the site to.

Tony Wood, of Chester Road, is now START because just 14 per cent of the houses on the land will be “affordable”.

The 56-year-old said: “A number of us thought that if there is going to be development then the community should be leading that.

“We can give people what they want, and that gives us the edge against others who are trying to make a profit.

“We are very serious about it.”

START has 50 to 60 members who are all keen to see the project turned into a reality.

They have handed out leaflets and held various meetings to get their project off the ground.

During consultation events, people said they want to see more parks, community gardens and allotments and a “green gym” and a community centre on the site.

The campaigners have between nine months to one year to raise the money they need and have already made £21,000 through donations.

They hope to secure grants for the remaining £39,000.

Mr Wood accused private companies of “pricing local people out of the market” by raising rents and house prices.

He said: “People just can’t afford it. If we do it as a community we can take the profit element out of it.

“Affordable housing is incredibly important. All the developments that seem to be happening here, a small number that the companies build seem to be affordable. That’s still about 80 percent of the full rate. A one bed flat goes for £800 a month.

“I know people who have gone to university but had to move back in with their parents because they can’t afford a flat. People who have lived here for years are having to move out of Haringey.”

They are still searching to get partners on board, and are aiming to get support from a developer.

Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trust said that they would listen to the local community, whichever bid was successful.

A statement from the trust said: “We are committed to working with the local communities it serves and will continue to do so as the plans for the redevelopment of St Ann’s Hospital are progressed.

“This is an exciting project which will bring benefits to local people as well as the Trust’s patients.

“The planned improvements will help provide even greater quality of care for our service users and meet the need for more housing locally”.