Special report by Aidan White, Jean Gray and Peter Landman

Newham’s flagship regeneration programme for the Carpenters Estate in Stratford faces a new delay with a single family in an empty tower block refusing the council’s offer to buy them out of their home.

As a result a compulsory purchase order has been agreed which could delay for a year the first phase of the £1 billion masterplan to redevelop the estate.

At the same time a significant 42 per cent increase in the budget for the first phase – the refurbishment of the tower block James Riley Point and the creation of a new community centre – has seen the original budget increased by £24 million.

A Newham Voices investigation which has canvassed the opinions of local people has uncovered an overwhelm- ing sense of apathy and despondency among residents, with some expressing concerns that the area is becoming a “ghost-estate” where the streets are increasingly unsafe and with more anti-social behaviour.

The optimism generated more than a year ago when residents were celebrating a vote in favour of the multi-million masterplan has been crushed.

For more than 20 years local residents have witnessed the decay of their estate while other parts of Stratford have been transformed, much of it thanks to the legacy of the 2012 Olympics.

That was planned to change when Populo Living, Newham’s housing company, put forward a planning application for the Estate last August. The project is one of the biggest regeneration projects in London: 2,151 new homes will be built across the 23-acre site, with more than 50 percent available for social rent.

A residents’ ballot in December last year voted in favour of this masterplan, but many questions were still unresolved, not least negotiations with a handful of leaseholders still in occupation of the largely empty tower blocks – James Riley Point, Dennison Point and Lund Point.

One of them June Benn, aged 78, lived alone on the 11th floor of Dennison Point, a block due for demolition. She told Newham Voices in July last year she would refuse to move out. Tragically she died last week in her apartment.

A final deadline for negotiations passed in December with four leaseholders still holding out in James Riley point. Now one family remains in place, still refusing to accept the council’s offer of around £400,000 to leave their apartment.

Joe Alexandra, a resident who represents a group of freeholders, blames the crisis on mismanagement and says that every few days he personally is out cleaning up the streets of used condoms and laughing gas canisters. Like others he understands why the area has the feel of a “ghost-estate”.

Part of the problem says resident Warren Lubin is because so many of the low rise homes – more than 90 per cent he says – are now used for temporary accommodation.

Lubin, who has been on the estate for more than 20 years and is former chair of the Resident’s Steering Group, summed up the despondent feelings that have overwhelmed residents.

“To be honest things have been badly mismanaged, lots of money has been wasted,” he said. “Every year that passes it becomes more and more expensive.

“Rather than have compulsory purchase, there should be offers that mean people can reasonably get another property.”

Another long-term resident Tee Fabukin, who helps run the local food bank that provides a lifeline distributing food and supplies to more than 1,500 people on the estate and beyond says the Council needs to be more transparent. “There needs to be more engagement with the residents to keep them informed,” she said.

Raising morale may not be easy. One resident – Ricky Holman, who lives on the estate with his aunt who has been a resident for 55 year – feels frustrated that that they have had to wait five years to get their leaking roof fixed.

The delays weigh heavily on people. “It all seems to be going very slowly and people are not happy about that,” said one. Another said there was a sense of powerlessness. Everyone agrees that whatever happens needs to be urgent and targeted at getting their lives back to normal.

The Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz insists costs are under control and the Council will deliver on all its promises.

She told Newham Voices: “The Carpenters Estate programme is one of the most significant restoration programmes anywhere in the UK. We’ll be starting with the sustainable refurbishment of James Riley Point, which will offer 132 new genuinely affordable homes.

“There will also be a brand new community centre, with state of the art sport and recreation facilities offering a vital space for residents to come together.

“We are ready to get going with works on James Riley Point and the community centre as soon we can. We have already secured planning permis- sion and have the construction partner in place.”

She said the council agreed to increase the budget for this phase of the programme by a further £20 million, reflecting increased construction costs and design changes because of new building regulations introduced by the government. The £20 million includes an increased contingency budget, she says.

“In March 2021, an initial £4 million was approved for early enabling works for James Riley Point, such as stripping off external cladding. In July, a further £53.3 million was approved for main works to the high rise and the new community centre; meaning the revised cost for the entirety of phase one now stands at £78.1 million.”

She says that increased costs “are well within the benchmark of similar schemes across London; and all developers have experienced similar scenarios in light of changes in the market and brought in by national government.”

She is adamant that “any compulsory purchase will follow our good governance process and we always act in the interests of residents desperately waiting to move into new homes.

“That’s why we can’t wait to hit the ground running to deliver on our promises to residents living on the estate to transform Carpenters into a much loved and thriving neighbourhood once again.”

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