A DERELICT building in Finsbury Park has been demolished to make way for a new block to ease overcrowding in the borough.

The building on the corner of Seven Sisters Road and Durham Road will house 37 people in six affordable properties when it is completed in January next year.

Residents will be able to bid for the homes though the council’s choice-based letting system.

Theresa Coyle MBE, Resident chairwoman of Home for Islington’s board, said: “This is another exciting step for social housing in Islington. HFI are very pleased to be working in partnership with Islington Council to provide new affordable family homes and improve life for local residents by transforming this eyesore site.”

With a successful bid for funding from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), HFI and Islington Council are converting a number of under-used sites and derelict spaces into new affordable homes.

Properties are also being built in Graham Street, Islington, Holbrooke Court, Holloway, Gillespie Road, Highbury, and on the Andover Estate, Holloway, and Elthorne Estate, Archway.

Councillor James Murray, Islington Council’s executive member for housing, said: “Our priority in Islington is to build more family sized homes for social rent.

“This is one of a series of new developments HFI and the council are working on, part of a growing programme of more than 100 new homes for overcrowded Islington families.”