More than 150 new council homes will be built on the site of a former bus garage in Alperton as part of a major housing development.

Brent Council bosses agreed to purchase the lease for 155 of the 461 homes in a 28-storey tower block at the former Alperton Bus Garage in Ealing Road.

The lease will run for 999 years and is expected to cost £48 million which, after subtracting a grant from the Greater London Authority, works out at around £280,000 per property.

Deputy council leader Cllr Margaret McLennan said at the cabinet meeting on November 8 that the purchase was an “exciting” opportunity to increase the number of council homes in the borough.

She added there would be a “dedicated [council] team” involved to make sure the homes were built to a high standard.

Housing lead councillor Eleanor Southwood said it was a particularly good scheme given its value for money, while council leader Cllr Muhammed Butt said the council will look at similar projects in the future.

Cllr Shama Tatler, lead for planning and regeneration, added the homes will go to those who “desperately need them” and pointed out the council has a good relationship with the developer Telford Homes.

Several major housing developments have been approved in Alperton in recent years – Brent Council says this represents growth – but others have suggested it will be bad for local community.

When planning permission was granted for the bus garage scheme earlier this year, local councillor Anton Georgiou said people are “desperate to leave” due to rampant development of the area.

He slammed a series of tower blocks as “eyesores” and said they had turned a low-rise development area into one resembling New York or Hong Kong.

Wembley Central and Alperton Residents’ Association said the developments were “a burden on neighbouring properties”, while former councillor Paul Lorber said they would “destroy the local environment”.