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GLA funding withdrawn for three major council estate regeneration schemes
Funding for a south London council’s ambitious estate regeneration programme is up in the air after it emerged that City Hall funding has been withdrawn for three major schemes.
Lambeth Council has long-standing plans to raze and rebuild six of its housing estates: Knights Walk, South Lambeth, Westbury, Cressingham Gardens, Fenwick, and Central Hill.
Greater London Authority (GLA) grant funding was previously in place for five of the regeneration projects – Central Hill being the exception – and contracts were signed between September and December 2017.
However, a letter to a Lambeth councillor from deputy London mayor for housing Tom Copley, seen by Inside Housing, revealed that funding agreements have been withdrawn for three of the estates, with grant still in place for the Knights Walk and South Lambeth schemes only.
A spokesperson for Lambeth Council said it still intends to go ahead with the Fenwick, Westbury and Cressingham Gardens regeneration schemes, with funding plans “confirmed as they progress”.
Together, the schemes are intended to deliver 1,306 new homes.
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The council said that it had decided to use Right to Buy receipts rather than GLA grant to fund the Westbury Estate regeneration scheme – a move which it claimed will enable it to deliver more affordable homes.
Funding for Cressingham Gardens required work to start by 2021 “and so didn’t fit with the planned timelines for rebuilding the estate”, it added.
It did not respond to questions about why funding was withdrawn for the Fenwick Estate project.
Since July 2018, London estate regeneration schemes involving the demolition of existing homes have been required to ballot residents in order to receive GLA grant funding.
According to Mr Copley’s letter, Lambeth Council was granted exemptions to the ballot rule for the Knights Walk, South Lambeth and Westbury estates but did not apply for exemptions on the Cressingham Gardens and Fenwick schemes.
Ballots are not required for redevelopments which do not receive GLA funding.
Some of Lambeth Council’s regeneration plans have been controversial locally, particularly its proposals for the Cressingham Gardens Estate.
In 2016, a High Court judge ruled that the council’s ambitions to knock down all 306 homes on the estate were lawful after a resident brought forward a judicial review claiming the authority should have more seriously considered alternatives to demolition.
Last year, in a highly unusual case, the government approved a resident group’s bid to have the right to take ownership of the estate against the wishes of the council.
Lambeth Council was one of only two in London, along with Westminster City Council, to snub mayor Sadiq Khan’s £1bn council housing grant programme in 2018.
In the GLA’s previous round of housing grant allocations in 2017, Lambeth was allocated nearly £55m – the most of any local authority.
It has pledged to build 1,000 new homes at council rent, largely through its housing company, Homes for Lambeth.
A spokesperson for Lambeth Council said: “Lambeth has embarked on rebuilding some estates as part of our plans to tackle the housing crisis, by providing brand new homes for existing tenants and additional homes at council-level rent for families on the waiting list.
“The council’s wholly owned housing company, Homes for Lambeth, has started work on delivering these new homes, including around 1,200 new homes by 2025 with 54% at affordable tenures, including 439 for council-level rents.
“That includes the first phase of the Cressingham Gardens Estate, which will be 100% affordable.”
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