Regeneration battles

I was on my way back to the train station when Angie, leaning over her balcony, asked me why I wanted to save the Central Hill Estate in south Lambeth. She told me about 17 years of suffering damp and sewage leaks, but also her wonderful neighbours and her fears about the regeneration process being imposed on the estate.

“Estate regeneration had led to the net loss of over 8,000 social rented homes in a decade.”

The residents’ group want the council to explore an option that would see homes refurbished, and new homes built on underused spaces and on top of low-rise blocks. They also want more control.

London mayor Sadiq Khan, councils and housing associations need to work with tenants and leaseholders to improve the way regeneration is done and challenge the councils who are not listening to their residents.

Figures obtained by the London Assembly’s Housing Committee last year found that estate regeneration had led to the net loss of over 8,000 social rented homes in a decade. There are some good examples of estates being renewed in a genuine partnership with residents. But too often, residents were subjected to tick-box consultation exercises, denied access to information and side-lined when they proposed alternative options.

The mayor has told me he intends to develop a set of principles to ensure that estate regeneration only takes place with resident support, based on full and transparent consultation. He also pledged that demolition is only permitted where it does not result in a loss of social housing, or where all other options have been exhausted, with full rights to return for displaced tenants and a fair deal for leaseholders. His deputy, James Murray, told me they intend to bring forward some planning guidance.

I welcome these commitments, but there’s a real difference between simply ‘consulting’ and properly involving residents in making plans.

Sian Berry, Green member of the London Assembly and candidate for mayor of London in 2008 and 2016