The Tustin Estate on the Old Kent Road will be redeveloped, after Southwark Council got planning permission on Tuesday night (July 19).
The council will build 690 new homes in its place, of which:
- 345 will be council flats, replacing the current 202 social rent flats
- 98 will be intermediate (80 per cent of market rate) for key workers
- 27 will be shared equity
- 220 will be for outright private sale
The council will also rebuild Pilgrim’s Way primary school, shops on the estate and redevelop the green space, while refurbishing the terraced houses on Manor Grove, many of which are in a state of disrepair.
Residents of the 1960s and 1970s estate, which is at the corner of Ilderton Road and the Old Kent Road, voted to redevelop it in a ballot last year, after being given five options, including refurbishment. Just under two-thirds of residents took part, according to the council.
Speaking at the meeting on Tuesday night, an estate resident said: “The overall sentiment on the Tustin is supportive of the proposal, despite the testing period of the pandemic, lockdowns and we are very grateful.”
Some people objected to the redevelopment, favouring refurbishment instead. One objector claimed that “we are… headed for another Heygate”, referencing the Walworth estate that was sold off and demolished, although the Tustin will have more social rent homes than before.
London Green Party politician Sian Berry spoke to a Tustin Estate leaseholder – someone who owns their flat – who claimed that a resident in favour of demolition pulled down anti-demolition banners.
Dominic reportedly said: “An ‘estate representative’ spoke out against Manor Grove putting up banners asking people to save their homes from demolition. Someone in fact pulled these banners down. But this same [individual] was found on a council meeting to discuss the plans soon after […] claiming that everyone was happy with the plans now, and they met everyone’s requirement.”
The council got full planning permission to knock down two of the buildings last night – Hillbeck Close and Ullwater House – and build four blocks in their place, providing 167 council homes. Existing residents will move into these homes while the rest of the estate is being rebuilt. The council said that all current council tenants would have a right to return to the estate in a flat with the same number of bedrooms.
Watch: the Ledbury Estate, the Old Kent Road estate whose residents voted for demolition
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Outline planning permission – a decision on the general principle – was also given for the rest of the plan, which would see three blocks and a school demolished and twelve new buildings built in their place.
Cllr Darren Merrill, Southwark’s cabinet member for council homes and homelessness, said: “I am delighted that these exciting new plans for the estate have been approved, especially for the residents of the estate who voted for the plans and were so involved in the design work.
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“I would like to thank the residents of the Tustin Estate for working with the council on the proposals and the effort they put in to get this application over the line.
“I look forward to continuing to work with [architects] dRMM and the residents of the Tustin Estate to deliver new council housing with high quality new homes for the people of Southwark.”
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Resident leaseholders could be forced to sell off their property with a compulsory purchase order, although the council said “it remains the intention to acquire all leasehold interests by agreement rather than by compulsory acquisition.”
Out of the new social rent homes, 143 will be one-bed, 82 will be two-bed, 87 will be three-bed, thirty will be four-bed and three will be five-bed.
That compares to an astonishing 60 studio flats in the current estate, thirty one-beds, 25 two-beds and 87 three-beds.
The news about the Tustin Estate comes about a month after the council got permission to knock down and rebuild the Ledbury Estate, on the other side of the Old Kent Road.
