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Malthouse approves residents’ bid to take ownership of council estate set for regeneration
Kit Malthouse has approved a residents’ group’s proposal to take over ownership of their estate against the wishes of the council landlord in a highly unusual case.
The housing minister determined this week that a stock transfer of Cressingham Gardens Estate in Lambeth to Cressingham Gardens Community (CGC) should be allowed to proceed.
However, Mr Malthouse’s determination does not necessarily mean that the transfer will go ahead, as CGC still needs to raise enough funding to purchase the estate from the council.
Meanwhile, the minister decided to reject West Ken Gibbs Green Community Homes’ (WKGGCH) bid to take over the West Kensington and Gibbs Green estates in Hammersmith and Fulham.
Both estates have been involved in long-running and high-profile disputes over regeneration plans.
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Lambeth Council first unveiled ambitions to regenerate Cressingham Gardens in 2012. It wants to demolish all 306 homes and replace them with 464 new builds.
In 2016, a High Court judge ruled that the council’s proposals for the estate are lawful after a resident brought forward a judicial review claiming the authority should have more seriously considered alternatives to demolition.
CGC applied for the right to transfer Cressingham Gardens in May 2016.
Lambeth Council argued that the transfer would have a detrimental impact on its ability to provide housing services for the rest of its 24,000-home stock and on the regeneration of the area.
But Mr Malthouse agreed with a socio-economic evaluation of the potential transfer carried out by consultancy Peter Brett on behalf of the government, which concluded that as the estate is only 1% of Lambeth’s housing stock its loss would not severely affect services.
And he said the council had not made enough “concrete progress” on its regeneration plans for the estate for a transfer to have a detrimental impact, while both the authority and CGC’s proposals are likely to have “a positive impact on the area”.
CGC wants to refurbish existing homes on the estate and deliver 38 new builds.
A spokesperson for Lambeth Council said: “This announcement was based on information submitted in 2016 and we will need time to consider the implications.
“We are, however, pleased that the government has recognised the council’s plans to rebuild the estate will have a ‘positive impact on the area covered by the estate’ and we remain committed to rebuilding Cressingham Gardens to provide better homes for existing residents and more homes for people on the council house waiting list.”
Cressingham Gardens campaigner Tom Keene said: “We have waited years for this so we will now be developing a plan of action for the next stages, including a ballot of residents, and a final business plan.
“We’ve been setting up a community interest company to take over repairs and other services as part of enacting our Right to Manage. We believe this, and our ’People’s Plan’, really supported our application.
“The council has made little progress in seven years while we move forward with our community-led proposals for additional housing, and an environmentally-led refurbishment.
“Lambeth is still a long way away from submitting a planning application, and the council has never demonstrated the financial viability of its regeneration scheme, so everything seems up in the air.”
The West Kensington and Gibbs Green estates, which together include 760 homes, are part of the huge £12bn Earls Court regeneration project and have been listed for demolition by developer Capco.
Mr Malthouse vetoed the estates’ transfer from Hammersmith & Fulham Council to WKGGCH on the grounds that “a large proportion (up to 32%) of the benefits of the regeneration could be removed”.
And he said that WKGGCH “does not meet the criteria for a tenant group” because it includes non-council tenants of the estate.
Capco’s plans for the Earls Court regeneration were approved in 2012 when Hammersmith & Fulham was under Conservative control, with the leadership at the time opposing the right to transfer.
The Labour administration – which was in place when WKGGCH submitted its transfer proposal in September 2015 – has expressed concern about Capco’s regeneration plans but still objected stock transfer to WKGGCH.
Jonathan Rosenberg, community organiser of West Kensington and Gibbs Green estates, said: “The government seems to have learned nothing. It talks about listening to tenants but when you look at this decision it doesn’t take into account tenants’ wishes at all.
“The definition that the minister has applied for a tenant group is exceptional and the notion that the Earls Court scheme has made concrete progress flies in the face of the facts.
“Ultimately, as with any decision made by government, we can mount a judicial review and so we are now exploring all the options.”
Both the residents’ groups’ proposals were made under the Right to Transfer, which allows council tenants to form a registered provider to take ownership of their estate.
This is different to most the way most tenant management organisations operate through the Right to Manage, where the council retains ownership of the estate.
The Right to Transfer is rare because it is often difficult for residents’ groups to raise the funding needed to acquire their estate.
Hammersmith & Fulham Council has been approached for comment.
Update: at 11.11am 12/07/19 a comment from CGC was added to the story.
