Tag: regeneration

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10-year plan for housing Blog Post

Why this Labour government must learn lessons from Attlee as it embarks on its regeneration journey 

London, United Kingdom - Saturday 04 December 2021, Harca - Aberfeldy Festival of Lights.

2026 will see the 75th anniversary of 1951’s Festival of Britain.  A stone’s throw from Poplar HARCA offices, the Lansbury estate in Poplar, east London (named after former Labour leader George Lansbury) was featured in the Festival’s live architecture exhibition as an exemplar of post-war neighbourhoods.  A model for modern housing solutions that would improve the quality of life for residents, while addressing the acute housing shortages caused by World War II.   

The estate became a symbol of government-led urban renewal and the blueprint for many of the New Towns that followed under Clement Atlee’s mass housing programme. Atlee’s government oversaw the delivery of over 1million homes in 6 years.  As MP for neighbouring Limehouse, he would have well understood the relationship between housing and people’s life chances, and the potential for decent homes and places to improve these.

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?  The government’s ambitions to get Britain building today clearly aim to meet comparable challenges to those the country faced three quarters of a century ago. Their new housing plan offers remarkably similar solutions.  We face the twin challenges of a housing crisis and regional inequalities.  This government has a vital opportunity to address these issues through a long-term regeneration strategy that meets demand for new homes, empowers communities and fosters inclusive growth.  Places like Poplar present a unique opportunity for the government to apply the lessons learned from history to today’s setting.  

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Unlocking new homes in the capital

The proposed New Towns programme will go a long way to deliver places where land is available, but in already densely populated urban areas like London, unlocking estate regeneration must be an important component. Inequalities are not just regional, and much of London faces the same challenges as other areas. Better quality, mixed-tenure housing as part of rejuvenated urban neighbourhoods is a vital part of creating vibrant, sustainable communities where residents feel empowered, valued and able to thrive.  

Local, community driven estate regeneration

Poplar HARCA has been developing a successful model of community-driven, locally delivered estate regeneration since our inception in 1998.  Operating within a square mile, we manage more than 10,000 homes alongside community facilities, green spaces, workspaces and shops.  Nearly one third of our staff live locally and residents are active participants in shaping our services. The benefits of our local model were reflected recently in Poplar HARCA achieving the highest tenant satisfaction scores in London.   

We empower communities to stay, grow and thrive.  Regeneration here is not an imposed external process but one shaped and led by people who live here. It delivers on both housing needs and community health and well-being.  This approach unlocks sustainable regeneration that benefits everyone.   

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Lessons we’re learning

We’re learning lessons along the way, which could help this government’s thinking as it develops its turbocharged housing and regeneration programme.

Put residents at the heart of regeneration  

We create opportunity, enabling residents to stay, grow and thrive. Our generous landlord offer includes ‘one move’, avoiding disruption to people’s lives.  We shape places where long-standing and new residents contribute to their neighbourhoods – as civic leaders, business owners, in local jobs, as volunteers or in education.  Our St Paul’s Way scheme includes a new primary school, nursery, mosque. play facilities and a district heating approach.

Empower communities to shape regeneration

Our schemes are steered by communities.  Listening campaigns, co-design, resident steering groups and ballots, alongside day-to-day conversations, ensure that what we build reflects the needs and aspirations of those who live, work and study here.  For our plans on the Aberfeldy estate, 93% of residents voted in favour of regeneration and our approach gained national recognition.

Work in partnership to deliver infrastructure

Effective regeneration is about building strong, collaborative partnerships.  The value of our joint ventures with development partners, higher education institutions, community organisations, businesses, local and national government has delivered new housing, health services, education, youth services, workspace, faith centres, green spaces, transport connectivity, community facilities and employment services.    

Like Atlee’s government, we understand the inherent link between housing and life outcomes, so we take a holistic approach to regeneration, one that focuses on people having access to the services and amenities they need to live fulfilling lives.

Mixed communities thrive

Our model provides housing for genuinely mixed communities, offering a mix of social and private rent, shared ownership and private sale.  It includes retrofit of existing alongside new homes. This tenure-blind approach ensures that neighbourhoods are accessible to people from all walks of life, preventing the displacement of existing residents and fostering inclusive communities.

Build civic and business capacity

Successful regeneration builds capacity in local communities.  Initiatives such as fashion workspace Poplar Works and our Aberfeldy Street meanwhile programme demonstrate how regeneration can create new local business opportunities. In Teviot, our social value commitments has invested over £400,000 in the community, before the scheme has been considered for planning permission, fostering civic pride and community engagement.    

So, what is needed to unlock new housing through estate regeneration?  

Alongside community-driven regeneration the government could focus on new financial models and embed a commitment to community empowerment.

Successive governments have rightly provided funding to deliver affordable housing. But in tight economic conditions, the long-term sustainability of regeneration projects relies on attracting private investment, especially from institutional investors.   

Strong governmental policies that encourage institutional investors to back regeneration projects in high-demand areas are crucial.  Providing incentives for investment in affordable housing, community-led development projects and placeshaping efforts that prioritise the needs of residents while delivering financial returns for investors.     

The English Devolution White Paper sets out a commitment to empowerment for local government. This is now needed for housing.  The people who live in neighbourhoods should have a direct voice in shaping their places.  We know that when communities are at the heart of regeneration, the results are more sustainable, more equitable and more impactful in people’s lives.   

This government has, like Atlee’s, made delivering new homes at vast scale a cornerstone of its agenda. It must be bold, inclusive and driven by a clear vision of sustainable, community-focused growth.  By embracing a model of regeneration that is built on hyper-local delivery, community empowerment, institutional investment and a commitment to social infrastructure alongside new homes, this government will deliver 1.5million new homes it has promised to the nation.  

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Fast wins for more homes: how Labour can champion infill development

Burnett House, Lewisham, an example of upward extensions. Image by Kate Matison licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

The housing crisis remains one of the most pressing issues facing Britain today. With homebuilding at crisis levels, numbers of households in temporary accommodation rising, and young people struggling to get on the property ladder, Labour recognises the urgent need for action.

Labour has a powerful electoral mandate for bold and ambitious home building. There is also a need for fast wins that deliver rapid, sustainable growth in housing supply through smart urban infill development.

Building more homes is critical for economic growth. Every 100,000 additional homes adds around 0.8% to GDP during construction. However, ambitious long-term projects like new towns will take years to bear fruit. That’s why to get results we must pull other quick levers. Three ‘fast win’ policies could boost housing supply in the short to medium term, without requiring additional central government resources.

The Government can create approximately 30,000 new homes per year through carefully planned infill development, enabling residents to expand their homes, and making the most of housing association land. This approach aligns with Labour’s commitment to prioritise brownfield development and create high-quality urban environments.

We can build new homes in the right places through:

  1. Building up: Learning from successful Labour-led initiatives in boroughs like Haringey, the government should set national policy for sympathetic towards upward extensions of existing homes. This will add more living space and create new homes while preserving neighbourhood character.
  2. Street votes: The government can complete the implementation of ‘street votes‘, an initiative based on the Mayor of London’s Outer London initiative with strong centre-left support,  empowering communities to bring forward sensitive development through local decision-making. This builds on the principle of community engagement that Labour has long championed.
  3. Estate renewal: By amending national policy through the NPPF or Written Ministerial Statement, the government can make it easier for social landlords to deliver better homes for tenants. Cross-subsidy from new market homes could fund improved council housing for existing tenants and create additional social housing stock.

These policies focus on building more homes in high-productivity areas — breaking down barriers to growth and opportunity. By enabling people to live closer to good jobs, we can reduce commute times, improve quality of life, and cut carbon emissions.

Importantly, these low-key quick win approaches prioritise small and medium-sized builders, create jobs and support local economies. This is infill development done sensitively; enhancing rather than disrupting existing communities.

Labour’s vision for attractive communities is popular with voters. By making use of the potential of brownfield sites and urban areas, we can deliver the homes we need.

A small wins approach has seen success internationally. In the US, reforms to allow ‘granny flats‘ have dramatically increased housing supply in cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco. Labour’s government in New Zealand has nearly doubled new housing permits in Auckland through smart infill policies.

By enabling more homes in existing urban areas, we can make better use of infrastructure, support struggling high streets, and improve public transport viability.

Crucially, an approach to infill development prioritises community support and environmental sustainability. A Labour Government can learn from successful Labour local government initiatives like Sadiq Khan’s tenant ballots for estate renewal in London, which have shown strong resident support for carefully planned renewal and delivered thousands of council homes.

Labour’s plan for housing represents a pragmatic, forward-thinking approach to one of Britain’s most pressing challenges. By focusing on rapid, community-supported development in areas of high demand, we can boost economic growth, improve quality of life, and create the homes that Britain desperately needs. This is how we build a fairer, more prosperous country for all.

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Blog Post

Ballot Busting Regeneration

On a hot Sunday afternoon in June, housing association tenants covered their flats in banners and protested outside their building. The residents live in Jura House, on the Aberfeldy estate in Tower Hamlets, which is halfway through a 20-year regeneration led by Poplar HARCA in partnership with EcoWorld London.

Much is written about the controversies of estate regeneration projects, but this protest was different. Impatient for change, residents here were protesting that regeneration is not happening fast enough. The proposals for new homes, parks, shops and walking and cycling connections do not represent ‘gentrification’ in their eyes, but as better future for and community, and they want to it happen for their children, before they grow up.

Aberfeldy, in Poplar, sits within the constituency I represent, and the community here face significant disadvantages in terms of access to employment, health and wellbeing. The social housing in Aberfeldy is a post-war development, built to replace the Victorian housing destroyed in the blitz. By the time it was completed in the 1970s, there was already a recognition that the estate was not the success the planners hoped it would be. Divided by roads, many Londoners would never even know this neighbourhood existed: the A12 and A13 surround the site, physically severing it from the rest of Poplar. Today, much of the housing is visibly dated and tired, and Jura House has seen better days. In 2009, the decision was made to regenerate the estate.

Since 2012, almost 700 homes have been delivered, including 165 homes for social rent, alongside a much-loved new public park called East India Green, complete with art created with the local community. This summer a further 223 homes will start to be handed over to new occupants and the first new shops on Aberfeldy Street will open, along with a new GP surgery, community centre, and a nursery. However, this is the last phase of the scheme that currently has full planning permission.

Due to the success of the initial phases, Poplar HARCA and EcoWorld London decided to develop a new, more ambitious, masterplan for the wider area and a planning application is expected later this year. Poplar HARCA have been talking to residents throughout. A Residents Steering Group meets regularly with the project team, including the architects and planners, and the extremely detailed, and at times robust, feedback from these discussions has informed the emerging plans. Alongside this, public consultations have collected feedback from residents across Poplar.

These efforts to understand residents aspirations has resulted in huge public backing for change. When a ballot was held last year, 93% of residents endorsed the regeneration plans, on a 91% turnout. An impressive and almost unprecedented mandate in favour of proceeding with estate regeneration.

The proposals go beyond replacing and increasing the existing council housing in Aberfeldy, which is of course funded in large part by new homes for private sale – a necessary trade-off that the community understands and endorses. Alongside providing up to 1,600 new homes, the Aberfeldy New Masterplan is designed to fulfil several strategic objectives. Top of this list is improving connectivity across Poplar, piece address the lack of safe connections across the A12, A13 and the River Lea, that has left residents here physically and mentally disconnected from the rest of London for generations. Improved walking and cycling routes along a new green corridor lined with more welcoming and better-connected public parks and spaces are designed to turn Aberfeldy from an estate into a place. This is underpinned by one big move – to close a vehicular underpass and transform it into a safe, vibrant cycling and walking link. These elements of the masterplan are popular, particularly with young people, who want a safer neighbourhood where they can walk or cycle to school, rather than be driven there by their parents.

So why are residents protesting? Well, after many years of talking about regeneration, residents want to see the promises of positive change delivered, and fast! Witnessing your neighbours being successfully rehomed in the earlier phases while you face the prospect of waiting for years, along with the added uncertainty of not knowing whether the masterplan will happen at all, is understandably not a welcome one.

A masterplan on this scale is a complicated and costly process. The bigger and more ambitious the plan, the more social and economic objectives it seeks to achieve, the more complicated and lengthy the process becomes, and the difficulty of balancing the competing and often incompatible priorities of communities, planners, policy makers and politicians become more pronounced. As time moves on so does the political weather, with individuals, councils and political priorities changing, along – potentially – with the prospects of support needed for the project to be delivered. Satisfying councillors and planners that you have adequately met, or given acceptable reasons for why you can’t, the ever-growing list of national, London and local planning regulations, is increasingly technical and time consuming, and with all parts of the scheme impacting the rest, difficulty in one area can return you back to square one on others.

This challenge is greater too on projects where some of the wider regeneration aspirations can only be delivered with public funding, and these funds often have fixed deadlines against delivered outcomes. All of this can only be met if the different private and public organisations involved are on the same page, working to achieve the same goal and mindful of the bigger picture. It is fair to say that isn’t always the case. Is our planning system capable of delivering complex projects such as this one?

The planning system is often criticised for being unresponsive to the needs and voices of local people when a scheme has been approved against the noisy opposition of (usually a small number of) residents. Perhaps a truer measure would be if big bold, regeneration plans that have the support of a community prove too complicated for the planning system to deliver.

The residents of Aberfeldy know what they want. As their banners adorning Jura House called out: “More green spaces”, “better shops”, “new homes, new parks, safer streets and subways”. “Why are we waiting?” asked another. The largest banner, held aloft by two residents stated, “pull us down now”. Jura house residents have told us what they need, and meeting their aspirations successfully and quickly is a test of whether our complicated and labyrinthine planning system is fit for purpose.

The Labour Party created the planning system and continues to defend it against the Conservative plans to overhaul it to make it easier for developers to build. Where we have the power to do so, it is vital Labour demonstrates that the planning system as it is can deliver for communities like Aberfeldy.

<strong><span class="has-inline-color has-accent-color">Unmesh Desai</span></strong>
Unmesh Desai

Unmesh is the Labour and Co-operative Party London Assembly Member for City & East.

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