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Residents of a south London housing estate have voted in favour of plans to demolish and rebuild their homes, in the latest ballot to take place under Sadiq Khan’s new rules.
Proposed by Riverside Housing Association, which currently owns 135 rented homes in Canterbury Close, Geoffrey Close and York Close in Lambeth, the plan will see the existing estate replaced with 400 mixed-tenure homes, a minimum of 135 of which will be for social rent.
The ballot resulted in 67% voting in favour of the proposal, with 87% of the 148 eligible residents casting a vote.
While the Greater London Authority (GLA) has allocated £9.5m to fund socially rented homes on the estate, Riverside said the remaining £91m needed for the project will be raised through building homes for private sale.
Riverside said its plans guarantee that all social tenants will be offered a home on the new development that fits with their housing needs.
In partnership with developer Bellway Homes, Riverside will send a planning application to Lambeth Council in 2019, following a “full community consultation”.
Introduced by Sadiq Khan in July, new rules say estate regeneration schemes must pass a resident ballot to receive funding from the GLA. The first ballot took place last month, when tenants in north London voted in favour of regeneration plans from Metropolitan Thames Valley.
Carol Matthews, chief executive of Riverside, said: “We are really pleased a majority of Riverside tenants endorsed our proposals to provide new homes on the estate.
“This decision means we will be able to provide overcrowded families new homes that meet their needs, improve tenants’ living conditions, whilst at the same time keeping the existing community together.”
James Murray, deputy mayor for housing and residential development said: “Londoners who live on estates must be given a real say in any plans for where they live, which is why the mayor has put ballots at the heart of his approach to estate regeneration.
“We are pleased to see Riverside putting the mayor’s policy into practice, and to support them in building new homes for social rent.”