Resident-led campaigns
Fight for the Aylesbury
Residents on the Aylesbury have been organising against the regeneration and demolition of their estate since 1999, instead arguing for a resident-centred programme of refurbishment and retrofitting. In 2015 housing campaigners occupied some of the empty buildings on the estate; leaseholders fought against the expropriation of their flats in a public inquiry that run
2015-2018; in 2023 a resident organised an anti-demolition exhibition in her flat; and in 2024 she won in court against the council, in a case about the planning permission for one section of the estate.
West Ken Gibbs Green Community Homes
West Kensington and Gibbs Green are two housing estates in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. From 2009- 2019 residents campaigned to stop the council from selling the land to private developers Capital & Countries Properties PLC (Capco), defeating a £12billion
redevelopment scheme and saving their homes from demolition. Residents created a People’s Plan with the support of ASH and are now pursuing their aim of community ownership.
Alton Action
Wandsworth Council have been looking to regenerate the Alton Estate in Roehampton since 2004. They partnered with house builder Redrow in 2016 with plans to demolish 288 existing homes and build 1,108 new ones, but the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 halted the regeneration. Campaign group Alton Action emerged in the same year. They collaborated with UCL academics Dr Pablo Sendra and Daniel Fitzpatrick and acquired university funding to develop a People’s Plan.
Save Cressingham
Cressingham Gardens is a low-rise housing estate in Lambeth, built between 1967 and 1979. Residents started the Save Cressingham campaign in 2012 to fight Lambeth Council’s redevelopment plans, which involve demolishing part of the estate. The campaign is raising legal funds to take action against the council.
Save Central Hill
Save Central Hill was formed by estate residents as Lambeth Borough Council announced plans in 2017 to demolish the 374-home estate and redevelop the site. The campaign, with the support of the local community, has involved protests and even a camp outside Truslove House, a demolished former nurse’s home, which was being used to house the homeless. In 2017, ASH offered a people’s plan alternative, which saved the homes and added a further 270 homes without demolishing a single home. The council is currently reviewing their regeneration plans, including retrofit options.
Lenses Resistance
Residents on the Lesnes Estate in Thamesmead, South East London are campaigning to save their homes from demolition. Housing association Peabody have received outline planning permission to demolish the existing 596 dwellings and build up to 1950 new homes, of which only 61 will be for social rent. The resistance has so far involved protests at City Hall and Bexley Council, and an on-going occupation of empty homes on the estate.
Greater Carpenters Neighbourhood Forum
As a response to repeated failures in regeneration plans for their estate, local residents and business owners set up ‘Carpenters Against regeneration Plans.’ The group organised workshops and surveys to understand local needs and wishes from future regeneration plans. This group was formally designated as the Greater Carpenters Neighbourhood Forum (GCNF) by the local planning authority in 2015. Since then, the GCNF has had a role in shaping local planning policy for future area regeneration. They have produced a statutory Neighbourhood Plan, and influenced the local authority’s site allocation requirements upon their estate.