Plans to build more than 600 “genuinely affordable” council homes in Harrow are a step closer to realisation after the council committed millions of pounds to the project.

It presented its latest housebuilding programme at a cabinet meeting last night, which it believes will help tackle the borough’s growing housing demand.

The project includes plans to create 639 new council homes – the majority of which will be at the dilapidated Grange Farm Estate, in South Harrow.

There are also plans to build 26 new homes in Chichester Court, Queensbury, which will add to the 20 homes in the borough already provided by the council.

Cllr Keith Ferry said the allocation of funding was “the best news he had heard in a long time” and praised the Mayor of London for providing financial support to the scheme.

Cllr Graham Henson, leader of the council, pointed out that a lot of “money, time and effort” has gone into these proposals, as he stressed the importance of providing affordable homes in Harrow.

The details of the report were protected under confidentiality laws, though it noted that more than £171 million has been devoted to the overall programme.

The plans for Grange Farm, 40 per cent of which will be affordable, were roundly supported by the council’s planning committee last year.

It said it was in “dire need of an update” and that the new, quality housing will be “what the area deserves”.