Volume 2- Social Housing Estate Regeneration
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Written submissions received for the London Assembly’s Housing Committee investigation into Social Housing Estate Regeneration 9ROXPHRI4 Ref Organisation Position/Title 6XE 8QLYHUVLW\RI/HLFHVWHU Professor Loretta Lees 6XED 8QLYHUVLW\RI/HLFHVWHU Professor Loretta Lees 6XEE 8QLYHUVLW\RI/HLFHVWHU Professor Loretta Lees tŚĂƚŝƐ͚ŐĞŶƚƌŝĮĐĂƟŽŶ͍͛ $OWKRXJKWKHWHUP¶JHQWULÀFDWLRQ·LVQRWDQHYHU\GD\ZRUG LWLVPRUHDQGPRUHEHLQJXVHGWRGHVFULEHWKHSUHVVXUHV RQ/RQGRQ·VSRRUHUFRPPXQLWLHV7KHZRUG¶JHQWULÀFDWLRQ· FRPHVIURPWKHROGZRUG¶JHQWU\·ZKLFKPHDQV¶WKHEHWWHU RII ·0RVWO\WKHZRUGLVXVHGWRFULWLFLVHEXWVRPHDOVRVHHLW DVLQHYLWDEOHRUHYHQDVDJRRGWKLQJ 7KLV\HDULVWKHWKDQQLYHUVDU\RI WKHWHUP¶JHQWULÀ FDWLRQ·ZKLFKZDVGHYHORSHGE\WKH/RQGRQUHVHDUFKHU5XWK *ODVV6KHXVHG¶JHQWULÀFDWLRQ·WRGHVFULEHKRZLQWKHV DQGVWUDGLWLRQDOZRUNLQJFODVVDUHDVLQLQQHU/RQGRQ ZHUHVHHLQJPLGGOHFODVVSHRSOHEX\XSKRXVHVIRUFKHDS $IWHUGRLQJWKHPXSPRUHZHDOWK\SHRSOHZHUHDWWUDFWHGWR WKHVHDUHDVDQGTXLWHTXLFNO\PRUHKRPHVZHUHORVWWRWKH RULJLQDOSRRUHUSRSXODWLRQIRUFLQJWKHPWRPRYHDZD\7KH 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dŚĞWĞƉLJƐƐƚĂƚĞ The Pepys Estate in Deptford, Lewisham, was an award-win- ning riverside social housing estate built in the late 1960s and made of three 24-story tower blocks, ten 8-story blocks and several 4-story blocks. In the late 1990s Lewisham council marketed one of the tower blocks, Aragon Tower, to housing associations without telling the tenants, and quietly began to move them out. In 2002 the tower was eventually sold to the private developer Berkeley Homes Plc for over £10 million and became a gated development called ‘Z apartments’. 144 council flats were replaced by 156 luxury apartments, many of them sold to foreign investors, and let out. The sale and demolition of the five adjacent lower-rise blocks by Hyde Housing Association lost a further 250 social housing units. ϭϮ KƌŐĂŶŝƐŝŶŐĂůŽĐĂůŐƌŽƵƉ %HVLGHVOHDÁHWLQJGRRUWRGRRUDQGSRVWHUVWRUHDFKSHR SOH\RXFDQVHWXSD)DFHERRNJURXSRUDZHEVLWH+DYLQJD QDPHGJURXSPDNHVLWHDVLHUWRDSSURDFKSHRSOHWR DVNTXHVWLRQVWRWKHFRXQFLORUWDONZLWKMRXUQDOLVWV,QDQ\ JURXSSHRSOHKDYHPDQ\GLIIHUHQWVNLOOVDQGDELOLWLHVWKDWFDQ FRYHUWKHEDVLFVPDNLQJSRVWHUVDQGOHDÁHWVDQGÀQGLQJZD\V WRSULQWWKHPRUJDQLVLQJHYHQWVFRRNLQJRUGRQDWLQJIRRG RUQHJRWLDWLQJIUHHRUFKHDSXVHRI FKXUFKKDOOVRUPHHWLQJ VSDFHVUHDGLQJSODQQLQJDSSOLFDWLRQVRUFRXQFLOUHSRUWVDQG PDNLQJDVXPPDU\IRUHYHU\RQHHOVH,W·VJRRGWRVKDUHWDVNV VRWKDWMREVGRQ·WDOZD\VVWD\ZLWKWKHVDPHSHRSOH 7RVWDUWDJURXS\RXGRQ·WQHHGWREHRIÀFLDOO\UHFRJQLVHG E\WKHFRXQFLORUEHODUJHLQQXPEHUEXWLI \RXZDQWWKHVXS SRUWRI WKHPDMRULW\RI WHQDQWV\RXUJURXSQHHGVWRJHWLQ HDUO\DQGZLQWKHDUJXPHQWVDJDLQVWGHPROLWLRQ%HLQJDEOHWR EXLOGZLGHVXSSRUWUDSLGO\PHDQVWKDW\RXFDQPDNHGHPDQGV UDWKHUWKDQÀJKWLQJHDFKVWHSRI WKHZD\2QWKH&DUSHQWHUV (VWDWHLQ1HZKDP&DUSHQWHUV$JDLQVW5HJHQHUDWLRQ3ODQV &$53 EURXJKWWRJHWKHUWHQDQWVOHDVHKROGHUVIUHHKROGHUV DQGEXVLQHVVHV,QWKH\VXFFHVVIXOO\UHVLVWHGSODQVIRUD QHZ8&/FDPSXVE\GUDZLQJDGGLWLRQDOVXSSRUWIURPDFD GHPLFV8&/VWXGHQWVXQLRQWUDGHXQLRQLVWVDQGDFWLYLVWV ǁǁǁ͘ƐĂǀĞĐĂƌƉĞŶƚĞƌƐ͘ǁŽƌĚƉƌĞƐƐ͘ĐŽŵ ,Q,VOLQJWRQ&RXQFLODQQRXQFHGDSURSRVDOWRGHPROLVK SDUWRI WKH%HPHUWRQ(VWDWHOHDVHKROGHUVRQWKHHVWDWH IRUPHGWKH%HPHUWRQ/HDVHKROGHUV$VVRFLDWLRQWRFKDOOHQJH WKHSURSRVDO7KH\FDPSDLJQHGWRVKRZWKDWWKHSURSRVHG GHPROLWLRQRI KRPHVGLGQ·WPDNHÀQDQFLDOVHQVHWR EUHDNHYHQWKH&RXQFLOZRXOGKDYHQHHGHGWREXLOGDQH[WUD KRPHVIRUVDOH%\RUJDQLVLQJHDUO\LQWKHSURFHVVWKH\ ZHUHDEOHWRVWDQGXSIRUWKHLUULJKWVDQGLQWKH&RXQFLO KDGWRVFUDSWKHSODQVDQGSURPLVHGLPSURYHPHQWVWRRSHQ VSDFHVDQGEXLOGLQJVRQWKHHVWDWH %HPHUWRQ/HDVHKROGHUV$VVRFLDWLRQ ǁǁǁ͘ďĞŵĞƌƚŽŶ͘ŽƌŐ͘ƵŬ ϭϴ 2WKHUFRPPXQLW\RUJDQLVDWLRQVÀJKWLQJGLVSODFHPHQWPLJKWFRQWDFW \RXDQGDVNIRUVXSSRUW,WLVLPSRUWDQWWKDW\RXKDYHDZD\WRVKDUH LQIRUPDWLRQDQGEHLQFRQWDFWZLWKJURXSVZLWKWKHVDPHFRQFHUQVDV \RXUV %XLOGHYLGHQFHIRU\RXUVWRU\WKURXJKSKRWRJUDSKVYLGHRVDQGUDGLR UHFRUGLQJVDVZHOODVGRFXPHQWV$VWKHFDPSDLJQGHYHORSVLWLV LPSRUWDQWWRDUFKLYHWKHVHDORQJZLWKQHZVOHWWHUVUHSRUWVLQWHUYLHZV PLQXWHVRIPHHWLQJVDQGVRRQVRWKDWFRPPXQLW\DFWLYLW\DJDLQVW JHQWULÀFDWLRQDQGGLVSODFHPHQWLVUHFRUGHGIRUXVHLQWKHIXWXUHDQG RSHQHGXSDVDUHVRXUFHDQGDVSDFHIRUUHÁHFWLRQDQGGHEDWH dŚĞĐŽŶƐƵůƚĂƟŽŶŐĂŵĞ If your estate or neighbourhood is affected by a regeneration plan, it is likely that there will be a ‘consultation’. There are two types of consul- tation: ‘statutory’ consultation means that the council has a legal re- quirement to seek comments from local residents on planning in their area; ‘non-statutory’ consultation is not a legal requirement. In either case councils and/or developers often hire ‘consultation consultants’, who are paid to listen and persuade, build phony agreement and write what’s called a ‘statement of community involvement’, to pretend that the community is behind the regeneration. Participating in consultation is often time-consuming and frustrating. Yet, many residents and community groups do decide to engage to try to find out information. In Elephant and Castle, local campaigners tried to make the consultation into a platform to share information and keep a record of broken promises. They constantly brought up the real stakes of the development and pressured locally elected coun- cillors through blogging, independent and mainstream media, as well as at official council meetings. ϮϬ Public consultation days were challenged by some groups through leafleting and running an alternative consultation stall to publicly ask difficult questions on the new plans, such as: ͻ,ŽǁĚŽĞƐŝƚĐŽŵƉĂƌĞǁŝƚŚĞdžŝƐƟŶŐŚŽƵƐŝŶŐƉƌŽǀŝƐŝŽŶĂŶĚǁĂŝƟŶŐ ůŝƐƚƐ͍ ͻtŚĂƚĂƌĞƚŚĞƌĞŶƚůĞǀĞůƐůŝŬĞŝŶƚŚĞŶĞǁŚŽŵĞƐ͍ ͻŽĞƐƚŚĞƌĞĚĞǀĞůŽƉŵĞŶƚĐŽŵƉůLJǁŝƚŚLJŽƵƌĐŽƵŶĐŝů͛ƐƉůĂŶŶŝŶŐ ƉŽůŝĐLJŽŶůĞǀĞůƐŽĨ͚ĂīŽƌĚĂďůĞŚŽƵƐŝŶŐ͍͛ ͻtŚĂƚĂƌĞƚŚĞďĞŶĞĮƚƐĨŽƌƚŚĞůŽĐĂůĐŽŵŵƵŶŝƚLJƵŶĚĞƌ^ĞĐƟŽŶϭϬϲ ŽƌƚŚĞ/>;ŽŵŵƵŶŝƚLJ/ŶĨƌĂƐƚƌƵĐƚƵƌĞ>ĞǀLJͿ͍ŽƚŚ^ϭϬϲĂŶĚ/>ĂƌĞ ǁĂLJƐŝŶǁŚŝĐŚĐŽŵŵƵŶŝƟĞƐƚĂŬĞŵŽŶĞLJĨƌŽŵĚĞǀĞůŽƉĞƌƐ͛ƉƌŽĮƚƐĨŽƌ