Mayor Sadiq Khan’s new rules on estate regeneration will do nothing to stop existing council and housing association properties from being demolished, according to Greens on the London Assembly.
During last year’s election, Mr Khan pledged that he would:
“Require that estate regeneration only takes place where there is resident support, based on full and transparent consultation, and that demolition is only permitted where it does not result in a loss of social housing, or where other all options have been exhausted, with full rights to return for displaced tenants and a fair deal for leaseholders.”
However Assembly Member Sian Berry says planned new rules, which are currently subject to a public consultation, are far more “vague” and “unclear” than the manifesto pledge and fail to ensure residents can block the demolition of their homes.
She’s called on the Mayor to amend his draft rules to ensure no estate is demolished “without an independent ballot” of residents being carried out and for funding to be withheld unless landlords meet conditions laid down by City Hall.
Ms Berry said: “The draft guidance is worse than useless – it rips up the Mayor’s manifesto promise that ‘estate regeneration only takes place where there is resident support’ and does nothing to ensure residents on estates can block demolition of their homes.
“The language in the draft guidance is vague and it is unclear what, if any, conditions will be imposed on how councils and landlords to qualify for funding or the Mayor’s support for planning applications.
“Most importantly for residents, it does not let them make the final decisions for their estates with an independent ballot. How can they trust any part of the engagement process when they know their views and plans can be completely ignored at the end?
“The guidance needs to be rewritten from scratch, working with Londoners to get it right.”
