Hounslow Council is looking to team up with a developer to build hundreds of new homes across the borough.
Its new commercial arm Lampton 360 has identified 10 council-owned sites which it believes between them have the capacity for 800 homes.
It wants to enter into a partnership to develop those sites, all of which it believes will become surplus to requirements over the next two to six years.
This marks a new tack for the council, which has previously sold off sites or allowed them to be developed in return for community benefits like new social housing.
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Barbara Richardson, the company's managing director of property and development, is part of the council's delegation to the MIPIM property conference in Cannes from March 15-18, where they hope to secure further investment in the borough.
Council leader Steve Curran said: "Lampton 360 Ltd’s vision is to build good quality houses across the borough, helping to meet the dire shortage of homes in London. In Hounslow we have 10,000 people in need of housing currently on the housing register.
Council reviewing all assets to release land for new homes
"Lampton 360 Ltd will also create economic opportunities, helping residents to get and keep good quality jobs.
"Hounslow Council is currently undertaking a review of all of its assets, in order to maximise them for continued or alternative use. Where it's possible, the council will release sites for residential development, so that more homes can be built.
"The sites will be built out with 40% traditional affordable homes, 20% private rented homes and 40% private sale homes. Mixed tenure sites are essential for both economic and community sustainability."
The council would not say where the sites are, nor what they are currently being used for.
To illustrate the urgent need for more affordable housing, it revealed the average property in the borough now costs £396,782 - 13.5 times the annual average earnings of its residents - and the average monthly rent is £1,395.
More than a third (34.6%) of residents in Hounslow who are claiming housing benefits are working, it added.
Plans for up to 940 homes on the current Hounslow Civic Centre site were approved on Thursday (March 10), with a new council HQ to be built in Hounslow town centre.
