Newham council’s plans for regeneration of the Custom House area have been hanging over residents for over 20 years, so it’s no surprise that many didn’t believe it might ever happen. However, the ballot is here and from the 23rd November to the 19th December residents can vote on whether Newham Council’s plans for mass demolition will go ahead. If residents vote “yes” Newham Council has the green light to move forward and start knocking down or “retro-fitting” (a fancy word for intensively refurbishing) their homes. Though lots of residents don’t want this, they are also sick of seeing the area run-down, the High Street boarded up and living in mice-infested homes with ripped out ceilings and floors. To many, a “no” vote feels like a vote for more of the same but for PEACH members it’s a “no” to waiting any longer for their homes and community to be fixed up and invested in.
Residents in Phase 1 (the first area to be demolished) have now received glossy booklets through their doors with photos of the new luxury homes they are promised. This is the Landlord Offer. It lays out what the regeneration will mean for all types of tenants – temporary, council, private renters and homeowners. However, it’s the words in print – not the pictures – that hold the key to understanding what is on offer. PEACH members have spent months questioning the various drafts of the Landlord Offer and what is clear is that many of the community will never set foot in these idyllic homes being waved under their noses and if they do, they face surges in rent and service charges.
What’s in the Landlord Offer for you?
- Homeowners won’t be able to afford an equivalent home in the regeneration area. They will be forced to downsize to a flat or move somewhere else.
- Private renters will be evicted with no right to a new home in regeneration area, no matter how long they have lived there!
- Temporary tenants will be offered secure tenancies if the council has a ‘duty to rehouse’ them but their rent will increase to London Affordable Rent levels which are 50% higher than council rent and service charges are unknown. It is unclear whether temporary tenants will be guaranteed secure tenancies by the time the homes are built, or where they will go in the meantime.
- Council tenants arguably get the best deal and will be offered a new home in the new development but the size and number of council properties being built is unclear.
- No one gets to return to the home they are in now.
But crucially, whatever the offer, it involves years more of waiting, disruption and uncertainty.
Why vote “no”?
If the Landlord Offer gets a “no”, the Council must go back and change their plans and make them better. But rather than making this clear, the Council has been threatening that if people vote “no” then they will lose all funding from the GLA and things will get worse for residents because private developers will be brought in and no ballot will be required. However, the GLA guidance on Resident Ballots for Estate Generation states that there is no limit on the number of ballots that can be held and that in the event of a “no” vote the Council “may wish to re-consult residents, amend its Landlord Offer and then ballot residents on the revised offer at a later date.”
What might happen if it is a “yes” vote?
If the Landlord Offer gets a “yes” vote, then tenants of all kinds could be forced out of the area and it is likely the repairs and refurbishment programme that PEACH members won last year is likely to stop or delay even further, forcing residents to wait in poor housing conditions until the regeneration finally happens. Temporary tenants’ rents will increase and some might slip through the cracks, like when Mears tenants were evicted after being re-assessed by the council. 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. The environmental impact will also be huge as there will be unnecessary demolition of structurally fine buildings. A “yes” vote will also set a precedent and make it much harder to demand different things for the next phases of the regeneration.
Who can vote on the Landlord Offer ballot?
The council’s Landlord Offer misleadingly states that the regeneration will only go ahead if the majority of residents vote in favour of it. But this is a false statement because 1. There is no minimum number of votes. For example, if only 3 residents vote and 2 of them vote “yes” the regeneration plans will go ahead. 2. Not everyone living in Phase 1 is eligible to vote.
People who can vote:
- Secure Council Tenants – but there hardly any left as many were ‘decanted’ years ago and have set up new lives in Essex
- Secure Council Tenants who have moved out of the area but have a ‘right to return’ – but many are unlikely to vote as they left so long ago
- Homeowners who live in their homes – but many have left already because the money they were given for selling their home was not enough to afford a new home in the same area
- Temporary Tenants and private tenants who are on the housing register and who have lived there for more than 12 months
People who can’t vote:
- Temporary Tenants who have lived there less than 1 year
- Private tenants who are not on the housing register, no matter how long they have lived there
- Shopkeepers / local businesses
- Secure Council Tenants who were ‘decanted’ and don’t want to return
- People living in other Phases who will be affected by the plans
PEACH members share their view in Open Democracy’s recent article ‘Demolition or disrepair: the choice facing residents on one London estate’ by May Robson.
The Council are using fear-mongering tactics to get a “yes” vote
The Council’s regeneration team are doing everything they can to push residents to get a ‘yes’ vote, especially using fear tactics and threats. PEACH members have been told by Newham Council & Newman Francis that if they vote ‘no’ to the Councils regeneration plans:
1) That they will be left in disrepair if they vote no, they will not be able to get another plan together for years for regeneration, meaning residents will be left behind.
2) That they are going with how they ‘feel’ rather than the facts
3) That if they vote no the Council will bring in private developers and there will be no council housing
4) Everyone gets housing allowance so their rent increasing will not affect you (assuming everyone is on benefits)
Surely the Council should be staying impartial and providing residents with clear information so that they can make up their own minds? How can this be a democratic process when the council is paying private firms to fear-monger residents into voting ‘yes’? With the Council so desperate for a ‘yes’ vote, it brings into question – who are these regeneration plans really for?
So what is PEACH’s alternative to the Landlord Offer?
PEACH members are conducting our own People’s Vote in the form of a photo petition. Everyone in the Custom House area is eligible to vote regardless of whether you are ‘eligible’ to vote in the ballot.
Our People’s Vote demands are:
- 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
- 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
- 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.
We know we can win these demands from our previous successes. In 2020 PEACH members not only triumphed by breaking the council’s contract with Mears, but also wrote off £350,000 of rent arrears and secured rent reductions of 60% for tenants.
In October 2021 250 people signed a petition demanding a higher standard of repairs and refurbishment. As a result, PEACH members got new windows installed across blocks, a refurbishment programme drawn up to bring homes up to standard, a direct line of communication with a dedicated team within the council to deal with the backlog of repairs, as well as regular meetings with the Director of Housing to monitor progress.
If the Landlord Offer gets a “yes” vote, then not only are these hard-fought wins are under threat.
Will you join PEACH members in voting “no” to the Landlord Offer?
Demand for better – vote for the People’s Vote!
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