The Mayor has published his draft guidance for councils and landlords on how to handle estate regeneration and I am not exaggerating when I call it ‘useless’.
The draft guidance rips up the Mayor’s manifesto promise that “estate regeneration only takes place where there is resident support”.
Other problems with the draft – including vague language, unclear conditions, no support for residents making their own plans – are so deep that that the document needs to be rewritten from scratch, working with Londoners to get it right.
You can read my full response to the Mayor here.
But the Mayor needs to hear this from Londoners too – it’s vitally important to get your responses in before the deadline of 14 March 2017.
This doesn’t need to take long. Just say where you live and why this matters to you (even if you don’t live on an estate we all need to preserve and build more council homes and truly affordable housing) and that you think the draft needs to be completely rewritten with clear requirements on councils and support for residents’ own ideas.
The key things to demand from the Mayor:
1. No demolition without an independent ballot
2. Clear conditions for councils to meet, or no GLA funding
3. Expert support for resident-led plans
How to tell the Mayor what you think:
- Send your comments by email by 14 March to: erguideconsultation@london.gov.uk
- Read the Mayor’s draft guidance here
- Read my full response to the draft here
At the London Estates Forum, which I hosted in City Hall on 10 February, the conclusion was clear – the future of estates in London lies in residents getting greater control, and making their own plans when more homes are needed or estates need refurbishment.
The unnecessary demolitions have to stop and Londoners and councils need much better guidance than this draft if we are going to make sure what happens is best for London.
Watch this 3m video summary of the forum: