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Holloway Prison: Up to 1,000 homes to be built in £82m deal

BBC Prison corridorBBC
Holloway prison, the largest women's prison in western Europe, has been sold to housing developers in a £81.5m deal

Holloway Prison, which once housed the likes of Myra Hindley and Rose West, has been sold to a housing association.

The £81.5m deal is expected to provide 1,000 homes after Peabody bought the 10-acre site of the former women's jail in north London on Friday.

The prisons minister said the sale will help "replace ageing prisons with modern, purpose-built establishments".

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has been looking for a buyer since the prison closed in 2016.

Heritage Images Interior of Holloway Prison,Heritage Images
In the early 20th Century, suffragettes were imprisoned at the women-only Holloway prison

Construction of the homes on the site is expected to start by 2022, with the aim of being completed by 2026.

The deal, which involves a £42m loan from the Mayor's Land Fund, will see at least 60% of the new homes will be "genuinely affordable", Peabody said.

Of these 70% will be social rent, with the remainder either shared ownership or London Living Rent.

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Madam Yevonde Diana MosleyMadam Yevonde
Hitler admirer Diana Mosley was held in Holloway during World War Two

A brief history of Holloway Prison

  • Holloway prison was originally built as a mixed-sex prison in 1852, but in 1902 it became the first female-only local prison in England
  • In the early 20th Century, suffragettes were imprisoned at Holloway. Many of them went on hunger strike and were subjected to force feeding in prison
  • During World War Two, aristocrat and Hitler supporter Diana Mosley was imprisoned in Holloway after being deemed "a danger to the King's Realm"
  • Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be executed in the UK, was imprisoned in Holloway before her death in 1955
  • Other infamous inmates include Myra Hindley and Rose West
  • Economist Vicky Pryce was detained in Holloway in 2013 for perverting the course of justice after accepting speeding points on behalf of her then husband and minister Chris Huhne
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Peabody will work in partnership with private developer London Square on the project.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: "Our ground-breaking loan to Peabody means the majority of new homes on this site will be genuinely affordable.

"This shows what is possible on public land. We've been able to do this even with the limited powers we currently have."

Brendan Sarsfield, Chief Executive of Peabody said: "As well as providing new homes we will also ensure social infrastructure and placemaking are at the heart of our proposals."

A community engagement programme and consultation will now run during 2019 and early 2020.