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Khan approved funding for 34 estates since guidance consultation
London mayor Sadiq Khan has signed off funding to knock down and redevelop 34 social housing estates since a consultation on regeneration closed, it has emerged.
Mr Khan last week said he would pause regeneration funding until the details of his new policy to give residents a vote on estate regeneration proposals have been finalised.
Figures released through Freedom of Information Act laws show the mayor has approved the demolition of more than 9,000 homes through regeneration projects since a consultation on a previous version of his ‘Good Practice Guide to Estate Regeneration’ closed in March 2017.
Since 1 December 2017 – just two months before a revised version backing resident ballots was published – Mr Khan has signed off funding on 16 schemes.
These include plans for Cressingham Gardens in Lambeth.
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Sian Berry, the leader of the London Assembly Green Party who broke the news, said it was “a betrayal of the residents on these 34 estates”.
She accused Mr Khan of quietly rushing schemes through once responses to the consultation indicated support for resident ballots.
“This information paints a sorry picture, and is a harsh slap in the face to many residents on estates under threat who – thanks to his actions – will be denied a ballot at the last moment before his new policy comes in,” Ms Berry wrote in a blog post on her website.
“The mayor needs to think again about how the people on the estates he’s rushed through should be treated.”
City Hall said Ms Berry was being “deliberately misleading”.
The consultation on current proposals requiring resident ballots on regeneration schemes in receipt of Greater London Authority (GLA) funding is open until 3 April.
A YouGov poll commissioned by Ms Berry found last week that 64% of Londoners support resident ballots on estate regenerations, while only 13% oppose them.
“This is a deliberately misleading interpretation of the facts by Assembly Member Berry,” a spokesperson for the GLA said.
“The data shows the total number of schemes that have had funding agreed in the entire time since Sadiq became mayor.
“The overwhelming majority of decisions to allocate funding for these schemes were agreed by June last year and the related contracts have been signed in the months following these decisions.”
Update: at 14.45pm, 26/03/18: A statement from the GLA was added to the story.
