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MP delivers letter warning Hong Kong firm against Earls Court regeneration
A Hong Kong property firm considering buying two social housing estates in Earls Court should “consider the appropriateness” of the deal, a letter delivered by the local MP has warned.
Andy Slaughter, the Labour MP for Hammersmith, took the letter to the offices of CK Asset Holdings last week, with protesters from the estates accompanying him.
West Kensington and Gibbs Green estates in Earls Court are both part of a development owned by Capital & Counties (Capco) and are currently slated for demolition.
Residents, however, have consistently opposed the plans, and Hammersmith and Fulham Council has called for the estates to be returned to the local authority.
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The scheme has also been mired in financial difficulties, reducing in value from £1.3bn to £1bn over two years.
Earlier this month, Capco confirmed that it is in talks with CK Asset Holdings, which is controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, over the potential sale of the site.
Mr Slaughter told Inside Housing: “Around 2,000 of my constituents have lived with the threat and fear of losing their homes for a decade now, thanks to the cynical deal between Capco and the previous Conservative-controlled council, in alliance with Boris Johnson as mayor and Eric Pickles as secretary of state.
“This sordid combination of social engineering and profiteering showed the worst side of politicians and developers.”
Two weeks ago Sadiq Khan, mayor of London, demanded that the two estates be handed back to the council.
In the letter delivered by Mr Slaughter, Keith Drew, chair of West Ken Gibbs Green Community Homes, wrote: “In this 10th year of our campaign, we have the experience, the motivation, the resolve and the wherewithal to exploit every political and legal avenue and to orchestrate wide-ranging publicity to defy dispossession and forcible removal from our homes.”
Mr Drew pointed out that CK Asset Holdings presents itself as a company that cares for the community, adding: “In light of that, you may wish to consider the appropriateness of any potential purchase of Capco’s Earls Court assets that include the [conditional land sale agreement] and our estates against the extensive harm that the demolition of our homes and the destruction of our settled community would cause to individuals in all protected equality groups.”
CK Asset Holdings did not respond to requests for comment.
