Westside reclamation will be 'exclusively affordable housing', Government confirms

The residential development at the future Westside reclamation site will be exclusively affordable housing.

The Government says it is expected to deliver 2,300 homes, and that this will include pensioner accommodation.

The initial demolition works in the area are set to begin later this week. 

The reclamation project in front of Westview Park was greenlit by the Development and Planning Commission in May. 

It will create roughly 47 thousand square metres of land. 

Number Six says there will be no open market or private residential element, and no part of the residential development will be sold at commercial prices.

It says the homes will be delivered under Government affordable housing schemes, as with the estates created by earlier reclamation projects in the area.

The Government says as was set out at the time of the original announcement, the reclamation has been designed to preserve the area of the GSLA bathing pavilions.

It says the existing children's park will be relocated for the duration of the construction works and will be expanded as part of the final development.

The creation of the land itself is expected to take around 18 months, and the Government says it will make further announcements on the plans, allocation, and timelines in due course.

Government Minister, Gemma Arias-Vasquez, said, "We will build in phases so that homes can be handed over as early as possible and the dedicated pensioner accommodation will release larger rental properties for families who have waited too long for the space they need."

The Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, said, "Gibraltar has always grown by creating the land its people need, and every generation of Gibraltarians who has benefited from an affordable home on reclaimed land has done so because a previous generation was willing to build."