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Clarion announces £37m investment to refurbish Sutton Estate
Today Clarion has announced plans to invest £37m into improving the Sutton Estate in west London, months after it cancelled its controversial plan to demolish and regenerate the site.
The country’s largest housing association has revealed it will now embark on a multimillion-pound refurbishment of the estate situated in Kensington and Chelsea, which will also include the development of new social rent homes.
In June, the 125,000-home landlord confirmed that it had gone back on its proposal to demolish the 383 flats on the estate and would carry out improvements on the properties instead.
The decision came after then-housing secretary James Brokenshire rejected the regeneration proposal saying it would result in an unacceptable loss of social housing. Kim Taylor-Smith, deputy leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council, told Inside Housing in October last year that the proposal was “morally” wrong.
The investment of the estate will also see the association deliver 80 new social rent homes, with priority for these homes given to residents currently living on the estate. The new scheme will have no homes for private sale.
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The plans will also see the estate’s 106-year-old homes in blocks A to D, which lie empty due to the fact that they currently do not meet the decency standards for accommodation, undergo a full-scale refurbishment. The majority of these flats have been empty since 2016.
Residents in the remaining 303 flats on the estate, which are located in the nine other blocks, will benefit from new kitchens and bathrooms as well as other upgrades. The outdoor spaces within the estate will also be improved as part of the plan.
Clarion will now consult residents over the plan and aim to start work in the summer of 2020.
The Sutton Estate was built by the William Sutton Trust in 1913 and is made up of a series of 14 buildings.
The original plan from Clarion included replacing the 383 flats on the Sutton Estate with 343 new homes, including 106 for market sale.
The association came under criticism for leaving the homes empty, especially in the aftermath of Grenfell in 2017, with radio station LBC suggesting they could be used to house survivors.
Clare Miller, chief executive of Clarion Housing Group, said: “The Sutton Estate is an integral part of the community in Kensington and Chelsea and securing the future of social housing on the estate has always been the priority for us.
“Our new plans will modernise the existing homes and the estate as a whole – benefiting not just today’s residents but future generations.
“By delivering at least 80 new social rented homes, we are also able to play a key role in helping to address the borough’s acute shortage of genuinely affordable housing.”
Mr Taylor-Smith said: “As a council we have already committed to building hundreds of new homes, but there is a housing crisis in London and we can’t fix it alone.
“That’s why Clarion’s announcement is so heartening. A home on an exceptional estate which has a real sense of community will make a huge difference to many families’ lives.”
“I hope Clarion’s commitment will encourage other housing associations and developers to work with us to provide more social housing in the borough.”
