Strolling the Rip-Off – Heygate & Aylesbury – On Sunday twenty ninth April 2012 I joined round 35 others for ‘Strolling the Rip-Off’ organised by Southwark Notes Archive Group and Aylesbury Tenants First (and right here) which began within the “neighborhood gardening tasks of Heygate” and went on “to the Aylesbury for a glance and study across the huge website.”
It was an attention-grabbing and illuminating expertise. There have been round 35 individuals altogether regardless of the rain and a horrible climate forecast, and fortuitously it slackened off and the solar truly got here out.
The Heygate Property has now fully gone, demolished in 2014. There was a lack of over a thousand council tenancies within the space, and solely round 25 of these tenants displaced from the Heygate are thought to have been rehoused within the space . The well-designed and largely solidly constructed property which in all probability had at the very least one other 50 years of life with correct upkeep and needed refurbishment has been changed by decrease high quality buildings with many flats owned by abroad buyers that are unlikely to final as lengthy.
As Southwark Notes reported in 2015, builders Lend Lease had been advertising its alternative, Elephant Park “abroad for rich off-plan patrons in search of second properties, investments, buy-to-lets, properties for his or her pupil little kids and many others.“
The person properties within the new property are smaller – some finest described as poky – and rented properties are a number of instances costlier. In 2021 the social hire on a brand new housing growth in close by Bermondsey was marketed at £295.50, which was £130 above the federal government’s social hire cap of £164.87 for a two-bed property. Lots of those that lived on the Heygate have been compelled to maneuver to outer areas of London or additional afield to search out housing they’ll afford. It has been social cleaning on a big scale.
Significantly badly affected had been leaseholders who had been compelled to maneuver and given funds that had been derisory and a fraction of that wanted to purchase comparable properties within the space. You could find extra particulars on-line on Southwark Notes.
There’s discover extra info on the regeneration of the Elephant & Fortress space on the 35% Marketing campaign site. This additionally has updated info on different elements of Southwark Council’s failures together with the redevelopment of the Aylesbury property, the disastrous redevelopment of the Elephant & Fortress buying centre and different scandals within the space.
The location took its identify from Southwark Council’s minimal coverage requirement of 35% reasonably priced housing, 70% of which social hire which it has failed to satisfy on Heygate and quite a few subsequent developments.
On the tour in 2012 we had been in a position to go to a number of properties on the Heygate and Aylesbury estates, and I used to be very impressed by the standard of the lodging and the plain love and care the residents had taken in making them actually private properties. I used to be allowed to {photograph} inside a few of them however didn’t put any of the photographs on line in 2012, and might not discover them.
I returned to a type of flats a yr in the past for the Fight4Aylesbury exhibition which was held there. Later within the yr Aysen Dennis in whose flat this was held agreed to be relocated to a brand new close by council block, however she continues her combat to save lots of what stays of the property. This January she acheived a major victory when the Excessive Courtroom overturned the planning determination for Part 2B of the Aylesbury Property demolition. It’s no longer clear how the remaining demolition of the property will proceed.
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Tags: 35% Marketing campaign, Aylesbury Property, Aylesbury Tenants, Aysen Dennis, council property, council rents, Elephand & Fortress, Elephant Park, property demolition, Fight4Aylesbury exhibition, Heygate, Excessive Courtroom, funding properties, LB Southwark, leaseholders, Lend Lease, London, London Images, abroad patrons, peter Marshall, social cleaning, Southwark Council, Southwark Notes, tenants
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