The Custom House Phase 1 ballot results show that 47% of the residents who could vote and did vote, voted NO to the Landlord Offer. This means the majority voted ‘yes’ by a margin of 4%, giving Newham Council the result they were wanted to proceed with the plans as they stand.
If these plans go ahead, Temporary tenants’ will have to pay higher rent and some might be evicted, like when Mears tenants were evicted after being re-assessed by the council. Throughout the ballot voting period, PEACH members met many people who should have been eligible to vote, but we’re not able to vote in the ballot because they had been removed from the housing bidding list. One resident said, “I just had two council workers at the door, the reason why I am not eligible is because I’m not on the housing waiting [bidding] list… I was on it before but they took me off for some reason.” This resident wasn’t able to have a say on plans that will likely result in her being evicted from her home. Homeowners will need to choose between leaving the area or losing full ownership of their home. Private renters will be pushed out even though some have lived in the same house for 20 years.
Larisa – a private renter, PEACH member and member of the Co-Production Steering Group (a group of residents representing the community in the regeneration) – will be evicted if the plans go ahead. Despite voicing her concerns about the regeneration plans in meetings with Newham Council’s regeneration team and the Co-Production Steering Group, she was told that they wouldn’t change the plans. Larisa has lived in Custom House for 20 years and her heart is in the community. She worked to get a Christmas tree in Custom House organised and decorated, made activity packs for children over lockdown and is always helping people. So many residents are invested in their community with strong relationships with their neighbours and they want their community to flourish today.
The plans include demolishing over 80% of homes. The environmental impact of the plans that Newham Council will now proceed with will also be huge. Interestingly, Newham Council are using the climate emergency to justify demolishing homes, claiming that their plan to demolish “ensures that we take action in the face of the climate emergency” by building more sustainable homes. We know some of the buildings that have been left empty and in disrepair for years (after all residents were decanted years ago) are not salvagable, but some of the blocks definitely are. Retrofitting the ones that are structurally sound will be better for the environment than unnecessary demolition. This would also be less disruptive to the people who live there and the environment. However it seems neither the community’s needs nor the environmental impact are being prioritised.
47% of the community (who were eligible to vote) and hundreds of other residents (who were excluded from having a say) say loud and clear: the regeneration plans are not good enough. While the result was a ‘yes’, if the council bulldozes ahead with these plans many members of the community will be forced out of the area and many will have to pay higher rent.
Newham Councils press release claims the plans have been co-produced with the community via the co-production steering group. PEACH members set up the co-production steering group, and argue that the steering group’s co-production process has not been genuine, and has not stuck to the terms of reference drawn up in 2018 when community representatives were elected. Like the high turnover of Council Officers, hardly any members of the originally democratically elected steering group remain. Most members resigned because they felt their time was being wasted and the terms not being followed.
“I feel hopeless for myself and the other private residents in Phase 1. Even though Council reps said yesterday that they want a joint community and no one should be left behind, I still do not fully believe them. The only positive bit that they realise that PEACH community is still alive and they want to work together.” says Larisa (private renter, PEACH member and member of the Co-Production Steering Group)
The press release also states that “The hard fought ballot result is a welcome success for the neighbourhood”. Our question to Mayor Fiaz and the regeneration team is: Why then did 47% of residents vote no, and why was it a ‘fight’ to get the result they wanted?
“Newham Council have announced that residents voted in favour of Regeneration in Custom House, with a mere 368 ‘affordable rent’ homes planned. Only a small % were able to vote and the ballot was neither democratic or representative. As a temporary tenant for 11+ years , I know the consequences of Regeneration all too well. Households losing “priority need” as their circumstances change over the years poses a very real danger to us. It is also concerning that of the community are low-income families and “affordable rent” flats crammed into mid-high rise blocks are not what we need.” says Boglarka (Temporary Tenant & PEACH member)
PEACH members want to negotiate with Newham Council, to make sure the regeneration plans are changed so that Custom House can get the love it needs now and the community can stick together.
Our People’s Vote demands are:
1. Love Custom House NOW
- Repair our homes now, we want healthy homes to live in.
- Keep and refurbish the homes that are structurally safe
- No unnecessary demolition
2. Permanent Homes NOW – 3 generations of waiting for regeneration – no more waiting!
- Temporary Tenants – No more temporary tenancies! Temporary Tenants to be on secure tenancies now & have the same rights and rent as council tenants.
- Council tenants – Council tenants to no longer be in uncertainty, to stay in current homes where possible
- Homeowners to stay – Homeowners to be able to stay in their current homes if they want, or to be given a fair price for their home (fair means the same price as other homes in the area that are the same size and same distance from the station – not a reduced price because it is in the regeneration zone)
- Private Tenants to stay – private tenants who have lived in the area for more than 5 years to be able to stay in their current home, or be offered an affordable rent close to their home with security
3. Community owned and managed land NOW
- PEACH run community centre – a place for the community to meet and run community activities
- Community Owned High Street – community owned, affordable rents for local shops and businesses that employ local people
- Community Land Trust Homes in the regeneration area – affordable homes owned by the community.
In the meantime, PEACH members are continuing to work hard spending their own time making sure the repairs and interim refurbishments they have won go ahead, and campaigning for Permenant Homes Now! Their homes are in a state of disrepair, commonly called managed decline which happens to estates that are earmarked for regeneration and on prime real estate land. They want their community to be thriving and healthy today, not in years to come and not after they have been pushed out. ‘I am not worth the land that I live on’ springs to mind.
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