The number of affordable homes planned for the first phase of the Meridian Water scheme has risen following talks between Enfield Council and developer Galliford Try.

Half of the homes on Meridian One in Edmonton are classed as affordable under revised plans for the regeneration site – up from a minimum of 35 per cent agreed in an earlier deal.

Enfield Council plans to buy 230 homes to offer for affordable rent on the site, which is the first phase of a 10,000-home development.

This means council-owned housing would make up a quarter of Meridian One, with the total number of homes on the scheme expected to rise from 750 to more than 900.

But the decision to offer the council homes at ‘London Affordable Rent’ levels instead of social rents has sparked criticism from one Labour councillor.

Cllr Tolga Aramaz (Labour), Edmonton Green, is a member of campaign group Meridian for Council Homes, which wants all the homes on Meridian Water to be available at social rent levels.

Cllr Aramaz said: “Council homes can be homes for the many vulnerable people that live in society, and these people cannot afford any other rent but the cheapest rent, social rent.

“London Affordable Rent is around 70 per cent higher than Enfield social rent. Effectively, we cannot call these actual council homes as the rent will be much higher.”

The remaining affordable homes on Meridian One will be available at “intermediate rent”, which is set at around 80 per cent of local market rents.

Cllr Aramaz claimed these homes would be out of reach of the vast majority of people in Enfield and would be “for landlords, investors and the elite to make profit a from public land”.

A spokesperson for Enfield Council claimed Cllr Aramaz was “mistaken in his understanding of some of the issues around the affordability of homes on this phase”.

The spokesperson said: “Half of the affordable homes delivered on site will be in line with the Mayor’s London Affordable Rent tenure.

“The remaining units will be available through the shared ownership scheme, where buyers can secure an equity share of their home – potentially as low as 25 per cent – thereby reducing the deposit required to get onto the housing ladder.

“Edmonton residents have told the council on a number of occasions that their main priorities for Meridian Water are the delivery of homes and jobs.

“Having taken back control of the delivery Meridian Water, Enfield Council is now ensuring that the primary beneficiaries are local people, as demonstrated by the provision of so much affordable and social housing on the first phase of this development.”

The revised developer procurement plan was approved by the council’s top decision makers at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday (October 16).

Council leader Cllr Nesil Caliskan told the meeting: “The original report in April made a minimum commitment of 75 council homes.

“The reason 75 was referred to was because I was unwilling to progress with Galliford Try without making them commit to something. We did not have to do that.

“In the past few months, we have been negotiating, and I am pleased to say that has increased to 230 council homes at affordable rent levels.

“We will continue to negotiate to ensure we are getting the maximum number of affordable homes the site can provide.”