How did you select the six estates you are working on?
The programme has prioritised estates where:
- The costs of delivering the Lambeth Housing Standard to homes would be too expensive, especially when compared to new-build. Lambeth Housing Standard is a standard adopted by Lambeth that ensures all council homes in the Borough are warm dry and safe.
- Lambeth Housing Standard works would, in themselves, not address the fundamental condition of the homes nor address many of the wider social and economic problems faced by residents and/or
- The wider benefits from regeneration would justify the investment - this includes locations where the existing estate is relatively low-density and where there is an opportunity to create additional much needed new homes
Based upon this the following six estates were selected for regeneration: Cressingham Gardens Knights Walk Westbury Fenwick Central Hill South Lambeth
What else is the council doing to build more homes in the borough other than the estate regeneration programme?
We are campaigning for a Better Lambeth: better jobs, better schools, better homes and better streets. Lambeth is committed to tackling the housing crisis in the borough by maximising the number of new affordable homes to make sure residents aren’t priced out of the housing market.
What we’re doing
We are building 1,000 new homes at council level rent, delivering the first new council homes for a generation, with a target of ensuring that at least 40 per cent of the homes on all housing developments are affordable. Our new home building includes using council owned small sites that can be developed for extra new housing. You can see progress towards this on the map below:
We’ve invested more than £490m in council homes in recent years, providing new bathrooms and kitchens for council tenants and making their homes warm, dry and safe. That work is now delivering real results for our residents, with more than 21,000 homes already brought up to the Lambeth Housing Standard. This was developed in 2012 after residents told us what works they felt were a priority for their homes and surrounding environment. We work with housing associations who also play an important role in delivering a range of social and affordable homes. The private sector is also providing new homes in Lambeth to households on a range of incomes and needs. New housing development is a fundamental part of the council’s jobs and growth agenda as outlined in the new Council’s Borough Plan.
The Lambeth Housing Development Pipeline Report shows that more than 4,900 new homes have been built in Lambeth since 2014. New homes play an essential element of economic growth in Lambeth by bringing in funding through community infrastructure levy, increased council tax receipts and job opportunities.
Why has the council launched an estate regeneration programme?
We launched our estate regeneration programme to enable us to build better homes for our current residents and more homes to help tackle the housing crisis in the borough. We are looking to rebuild homes where it isn’t economically viable to refurbish them and also where doing so won’t improve the estates.
What is the housing situation in Lambeth?
Background
Providing more and better homes for Lambeth residents is one of the council’s key priorities. The lack of affordable housing is one of the biggest issues facing our residents; across London as a whole, there is a growing housing crisis. According to the Land Registry Lambeth’s average house price in 2016 was £518,088 – 15 times London’s average annual wage.
What we’re doing
We are building 1,000 new homes at council level rent, delivering the first new council homes for a generation, with a target of ensuring that at least 40 per cent of the homes on all housing developments are affordable. Our new home building includes using council owned small sites that can be developed for extra new housing.
You can see progress towards this on the map below: