A working men’s club in Dagenham could be replaced with council housing under plans set to be approved by town hall leaders. Barking and Dagenham Council is proposing to build 47 new council homes around the borough, including at Dagenham Trades Hall, Charlotte Road. Council leaders are set to back the project at a meeting next week. Proposals say the plan will “deliver much-needed family housing” and “reduce pressure on the housing waiting list and temporary accommodation”. The plans aim to build family-sized townhouses and semi-detached homes for families on the council’s housing register, at four council-owned sites across the borough. These include Dagenham Trades Hall, together with two blocks of garages behind the club. The council bought Dagenham Trades Hall in 2023, and leased it back to the club until September 2025. Proposals say the building will become vacant after this, unless the club “opts to extend the lease short-term”. They add that if the council was to continue letting the hall out at market rent, the council would likely lose out on rental income. This is because “the existing working men’s club and institute use is unlikely to continue and rental income is expected to reduce once the current tenant (and former owner) vacates”. The three other sites are blocks of garages between Hunters Hall Road and Wantz Road in Dagenham, next to Harley Brook Church in Rosslyn Avenue, also Dagenham, and at Chelmer Crescent in Thames View, Barking. Proposals say the sites are suitable for “low-density, family housing”. They say: “The identified sites are not suitable for high density development and there is a known need for affordable family homes in the borough.” Under the plans, the council would build 15 houses at Dagenham Trades Hall and Charlotte Road garages, twelve at Hunters Hall Road, seven at Rosslyn Avenue and 13 at Chelmer Crescent. The ambition is for the 15 homes in Charlotte Road to be build and occupied in 2030, and at the other sites by 2029. The project would be paid for from the council’s housing budget, and from Greater London Authority grants. Leading councillors on the cabinet committee are set to approve the proposals at a meeting next Tuesday (16th). Once approved, the projects will still need to be given planning permission before they can be built.