The Aylesham Centre - the decision, then the backlash

The recent decision by the government Inspector to reject Berkeley Homes’ proposals for the Aylesham Centre provoked much criticism from pro-development quarters.

Canada Water's huge loss of affordable housing

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has approved the reduction of affordable housing on the giant Canada Water development, cutting it from 35% to 9%.

Southwark set to reduce 35% affordable housing to 20%

Southwark Council looks set to reduce its longstanding requirement for affordable housing on private developments to 20%, after rejecting a call to keep the level at 35% at its recent Assembly meeting.

Nearly 1,000 empty homes on the Aylesbury estate

A Southwark Council document seen by the 35% Campaign numbers the total of empty homes on the Aylesbury estate at 974.

Aylesham Centre planning application rejected

Southwark Council’s planning committee has formally rejected Berkeley Home’s proposals for the redevelopment of Peckham’s Aylesham Centre. They have further agreed to defend this decision at a forthcoming public inquiry.

Elephant traders evicted from relocation space

The Southwark News has reported that several small traders at the Elephant Arcade are to be evicted. The traders were relocated to the Arcade from the Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre, when it was closed in September 2020. The Arcade is a converted indoor carpark at the bottom of Perronet House, a council housing block.

Aylesbury Phase 2B approved by planning committee for the second time

Southwark Council’s planning committee finally passed Notting Hill Genesis’ troubled planning application for the latest phase of the Aylesbury regeneration by 6 votes to one, at its 4 June meeting.

Southwark abandons annual affordable housing monitoring reports

Southwark Council appear to have abandoned the annual audits of affordable housing monitoring that they promised to conduct in response to a critical Ombudsman’s report in 2016.

Aylesbury Phase 2B - profitable, but not viable

New viability assessment shows £13.5m profit

Aylesbury regeneration plot fails to deliver affordable housing and new houses

A nearly-completed Aylesbury regeneration site has failed to deliver all the affordable and family housing that is required by its amended planning permission. Plot 18 will be just the third plot of the estate’s regeneration to be completed since 1997 (after Site 1A and Site 7, delivered by L&Q housing association), with a fourth site, the First Development Site, also in its final stages.

Aylesbury Phase 2B - Notting Hill Genesis try again

Notting Hill Genesis (NHG) have updated their planning application for Phase 2B of the Aylesbury regeneration. The new proposal increases the number of homes from 617 to 640, with an increase in the number of social rented homes from 163 to 173 and of intermediate part-buy/part-let homes from 82 to 89. The number of private homes has been increased to 378 from 369.

Southwark’s new council homes are welcome, but a lot are being demolished too

Southwark Council recently ended the ‘direct delivery’ of new council housing, the main strand of its council house building programme and will now rely upon private developments to fulfil its pledge to build 11,000 new council homes.

What next after High Court overturns Aylesbury planning decision?

Amendment to outline planning permission quashed

Giant Elephant Park office block gets go-ahead

Southwark Council’s decision to refuse Lendlease planning permission for a large office block on H1, the final plot of Elephant Park (formerly the Heygate estate) has been overturned by a planning inspector. The decision means that Lendlease can go ahead with construction of the office block.

Aylesbury estate legal battle goes to the High Court

Latest phase of troubled regeneration triggers legal challenge to Aylesbury Outline Planning Permission

Lendlease row back on Elephant Park health hub commitments.

Elephant Park developer Lendlease is watering down its commitments to providing a health hub as part of its proposed office block on the final plot of Elephant Park, H1.

Southwark turns blind eye to social rent homes let at market-related rents

Southwark Council has declined to take any action to recover nine social rented homes that have been lost from Gutenberg Court, a housing development on Grange Road in Bermondsey. Southwark Law Centre made a formal complaint in October 2021 that homes were being advertised on the Council’s Homesearch website at over twice the average social rent levels. After a lengthy delay the Council have now replied that it will not be taking any enforcement action.

Southwark developments that fail to deliver real social rent

Social rent of £295.50 challenged by Southwark Law Centre

Ombudsman rejects affordable housing complaint

A complaint by the 35% Campaign that Southwark has no effective system for the delivery of affordable housing, has been rejected by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. The judgement (LINK) comes after an 18-month enquiry process, with the Ombudsman ruling that ‘We found no fault because the Council has effective procedures for carrying out its functions’.

Lendlease’s Elephant office block rejected.

The Southwark Law Centre (SLC) has written to London Mayor Sadiq Khan asking him to respect Southwark Council’s decision to reject developer Lendlease’s plans to build a giant office block on the final plot (H1) of Elephant Park, at the Elephant and Castle. (Reports on the decision can be found on these links - SE1, Southwark News and the Australian Financial Review).

Elephant Park - Lendlease's final squeeze

Lendlease’s proposal to build a giant office block on the last plot (H1) of the demolished Heygate estate has been recommended for approval by Southwark Council’s planning department. It now goes to the planning committee for a final decision tomorrow (Tues 4 Oct).

Elephant Park - homes dumped for offices

Southwark Council is set to roll over to Lendlease yet again in its final bid to squeeze maximum profit out of the Heygate redevelopment. The developer’s latest and last Elephant Park application will increase the density of the scheme via the back door, using the sweetener of a new health facility that is was required to provide anyway.

Only one in ten new homes in Southwark is social rented

Hoardings publicising the Council’s delivery of 11,000 council homes are a familiar sight around Southwark. They promote the Council’s creditable council house building programme, which it launched in 2013 and describes as the ‘most ambitious…in the country’.

Aylesbury Update: cost of leaseholder buy-outs leaps

Southwark Council’s Cabinet has agreed to increase the budget for its Aylesbury estate redevelopment costs by nearly £30m. The money will be used to buy-out leaseholders, to allow for the estate’s continued demolition and redevelopment.

Elephant traders without new premises one year after shopping centre closes

Independent traders displaced by the closure of the Elephant and Castle shopping centre are to send a deputation to Southwark Council’s Cabinet meeting tomorrow. The deputation will be urging the Council to do more to help them secure new premises, after being left homeless by the shopping centre closure.

Lendlease's final plot for Elephant Park - offices, not homes

Southwark to change rules to allow office block on former Heygate estate.

Former Council leader glides through Southwark's revolving doors

Former Southwark Council leader Peter John OBE has joined the long list of councillors and ex-council staff now working for property developers. Cllr John led Southwark from 2010 to 2020, and was chair of London Councils from 2018 to 2020.

Legal battle for the Elephant and Castle shopping centre ends

The Appeal Court has upheld the High Court decision allowing developers Delancey to proceed with the demolition and redevelopment of the Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre, after it found that there were no grounds for reversing the High Court’s decision.

Southwark rips up Aylesbury Area Action Plan

Without consultation, Southwark Council has decided to scrap the 182-page planning document which sets the parameters for its redevelopment of the Aylesbury estate. The so-called Aylesbury Area Action Plan (AAAP) will instead be replaced by a 2-page ‘Area Vision and 5-page ‘site allocation’, as part of the New Southwark Plan.

Action on Southwark's empty homes

Manor Place Depot will be one of one of the next sites for a nationwide Day of Action on Empty Homes on Sat 17 April 2021. When we last looked (10 April 2021) at least 14 homes stood empty on a single street within that development. There will a Photoshoot and livestream 11am to 11:30am - click here to find out more and join event.

Appeal against Elephant Shopping Centre development tomorrow

The long-awaited Court of Appeal hearing against the High Court decision to uphold the planning approval for the demolition and redevelopment of the Elephant and Castle shopping centre will be held on the 16 and 17 March 2021. The hearing will be online. Permission to mount the appeal was granted to Jerry Flynn, of the 35% Campaign, who is supported by local campaigners Up the Elephant. David Wolf QC of Matrix Chambers, Sarah Sackman of Francis Taylor Building and Paul Heron of the Public Interest Law Centre represent Mr Flynn.

Social Rent or Affordable Rent?

Five years ago today, Southwark Council rejected our complaint that affordable homes secured from private developments weren’t in fact being delivered, Southwark’s Director of Planning saying ‘Southwark Council has appropriate safeguards in place and has not failed in its duties .. therefore your compliant is not upheld”.

Wood Dene Protest against empty homes

People Before Profit and Southwark Defend Council Housing (SDCH) are mounting a protest against empty homes in Southwark with a demonstration at Peckham Place 12pm Saturday the 31 October.

No room for social rent at Pocket Living on the Old Kent Road

Southwark Council is set to approve a mixed-used residential scheme in the Old Kent Rd Opportunity Area with no social rented housing or family housing, at its planning committee meeting this evening.

Shopping Centre closes, but campaign for traders continues

The closure of the Elephant and Castle shopping centre last Thursday was marked by protest, impassioned speeches and widespread media coverage. The centre closed after 55 years’ service to the local community and is now set to be demolished, to make way for a new retail, leisure and residential complex. Shopping centre owner, Delancey, leads the development partnership behind the new scheme.

The Elephant traders who face the end without new homes

Shopping centre developer Delancey and Southwark Council have mounted a desperate defence of their failed trader’ relocation strategy, with a joint statement claiming that all qualifying businesses have been relocated or offered relocation options ‘without question’. The centre is due to close on Thursday.

Shopping Centre traders propose new stalls for the Elephant

Traders who will be losing their market stalls when the Elephant and Castle shopping closes have come up with their own proposal for new stalls at the Elephant. Around forty traders face the loss of their businesses and livelihoods when the Centre closes its doors for the last time on 24 September.

Southwark responds to shopping centre campaigners

Southwark Council has posted a lengthy statement in defence of its treatment of the shopping centre traders, as around 40 face the loss of their livelihood when the centre closes on 24 September, according to research by local charity Latin Elephant.

The shopping centre traders expelled by regeneration

In our last blog post we detailed how Up the Elephant and other campaigners had written to the University of the Arts, London (UAL), informing them that at least 28 traders had not been relocated new premises, as they face the closure of their businesses, to make way for the demolition and redevelopment of the shopping centre. Analysis by Latin Elephant puts the number of traders in peril at between fourty and fifty.

Campaigners demand that UAL withdraws from shopping centre development.

Campaigners fighting against the demolition and redevelopment of the Elephant and Castle shopping centre have demanded that the University of the Arts London (UAL) withdraw from the controversial scheme. The demand was made in an open letter to the UAL’s Rector, Sir Nigel Carrington.

Aylesbury estate regeneration to have new council homes

Southwark Council has announced that the First Development Site (FDS) of the Aylesbury estate regeneration will now deliver 581 council homes, increasing the number of social rented homes on the site by 280 units. The figures come from a Cabinet report to be considered on Tuesday 14 July. These will be the first new council homes on the regeneration.

Old Kent Rd scheme faces loss of affordable housing

Berkeley Homes is the first developer in Southwark to threaten to reduce the affordable housing in one of its schemes, since the onset of the Coronavirus crisis. Berkeley secured planning permission for the Malt St development, just off the Old Kent Rd, in June 2019, with a promise to build 40% affordable housing. Since then it has joined-up with Peabody, who had a smaller, neighbouring development on Nyes Wharf. Together the two sites will provide 1,569 new homes, with 40% affordable housing (359 at social rent and 222 shared-ownership), delivered by Peabody.

The harsh reality of relocation for shopping centre traders

The Southwark Law Centre (SLC) has written to Southwark Council, detailing the shortcomings of the relocation of the independent traders from the Elephant & Castle shopping centre, prior to its demolition on 31 July 2020. The letter is supported by Latin Elephant and Up the Elephant, which includes the 35% Campaign.

Shopping centre CPO - Southwark ploughs on regardless

Southwark Council is set to assume Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) powers, on behalf of offshore developer Delancey, at its Cabinet meeting this Tues 7 April (postponed from 24 March). While this extraordinary move will strengthen Delancey’s hand in ongoing negotiations with various development stakeholders, such as TfL, and will relieve Delancey of funding risks, the scheme itself remains unchanged, delivering only 116 social rented units and displacing traders wholesale.

Council to remove last shopping centre traders using CPO powers

In an extraordinary move Southwark Council is poised to ‘buy’ both the Elephant and Castle shopping centre and the London College of Communication from current owners, developer Delancey and the University of the Arts London (UAL).

Elephant Park - planning committee misled?

Developer Lendlease failed to disclose at Last week’s planning committee meeting that it was in receipt of public funding, which could have increased the amount of affordable housing at Elephant Park (aka the Heygate estate regeneration).

Elephant Park - final phase, final windfall for Lendlease

We blogged last year about the final phase (MP5 H7) of the Heygate regeneration.

The Biscuit Factory is back

We blogged back in 2018 about the redevelopment of the former Peek Freans biscuit factory and adjoining Bermondsey college campus site.

Shopping centre traders demand fair play

A deputation of shopping centre traders are due to attend Southwark Council’s Assembly meeting tomorrow, to demand fair treatment from developer Delancey and the Council. This follows Delancey’s announcement that it intends to close the centre on 30 July 2020. All the businesses in the centre, including the market traders, must move before then, but despite a relocation package about 60 traders still have nowhere to go, according to research by local charity Latin Elephant. Representatives from Latin Elephant and Southwark Law Centre will be joining the traders on the deputation.

Elephant traders still homeless

As Delancey announces its intention to close down the E&C shopping centre, research by Latin Elephant/petit elephant has shown that only around 40 out of nearly 100 independent traders still operating at the centre have been allocated new premises.

High Court hearing looms for Elephant shopping centre

The legal battle to quash the planning permission for the demolition and redevelopment of the shopping centre reaches the High Court next week, when a judicial review hearing is scheduled for the 22 and 23 October, after being postponed from July. The challenge is supported by the Up the Elephant campaign, the Public Interest Law Centre and Southwark Law Centre, as well as by the 35% Campaign. The challenge will be presented by barristers Sarah Sackman of Francis Taylor Building and David Wolfe QC of Matrix Chambers.

Canada Water regeneration finally up for approval

Southwark Council’s planning committee is set to approve the largest planning application ever submitted in the borough this week, when it considers the redevelopment of Canada Water. This huge 21 hectare site includes the Surrey Quays shopping centre and leisure park and the old Daily Mail printworks. Developer British Land’s (BL) proposals for about 7 million sq ft of development will be considered over two planning meetings on the 25th and 30th September.

Elephant Park MP5 - the final chapter

Developer Lendlease proposes building 2,689 homes on the completed redevelopment of the Heygate estate - 220 more homes than were originally approved back in 2013, but with twenty-nine fewer affordable homes. Just 92 of the affordable homes in the redevelopment,now known as Elephant Park, will be social rent.

The proposal is made in the detailed planning application for the last plot of the scheme (MP5/H7), where Lendlease proposes building 424 new homes, including 72 affordable units (37 shared-ownership, 20 affordable rent and 15 social rent). There is no proposal for a viability review of the scheme, to maximise the amount of affordable housing.

Why we're challenging the Elephant & Castle redevelopment plans in court

Twenty years ago, Fred Manson, Southwark Council’s Director of Regeneration laid out the aims of the Labour council’s new regeneration strategy in industry magazine, the Estates Gazette: “We need to have a wider range of people living in the borough” because “social housing generates people on low incomes coming in and that generates poor school performances, middle-class people stay away.”

Verney Rd - yet another Old Kent Rd development

The application for a mixed-use development at 6-12 Verney Rd, just off the Old Kent Rd, behind PC World, is due to be considered by Southwark’s planning committee this Monday (18 June). The proposal is for 3 blocks, the tallest of 17 storeys, comprising 338 residential units, office and workspace and associated open, green and amenity spaces. The application is recommended for approval.

Delays and Delancey

In the face of a judicial review of their planning approval for the shopping centre demolition and redevelopment (now scheduled for 17 and 18 July), centre owners and developer Delancey showed a touching concern for the welfare of the traders, making noises about how the ‘timeline for starting on site will be pushed back’, affecting the traders’ hopes for ‘stability and certainty’.

Malt Street - the next big Old Kent Road development

Southwark’s planning committee is to consider yet another major Old Kent Rd development on Monday, the fourth so far, after Ruby Triangle, Cantium Retail park and Southernwood Retail Park. Southernwood was unanimously approved by Southwark’s planning committee just last week, despite objections, including doubts about whether it that it will deliver the maximum reaonable amount of affordable housing. Serious concerns raised about the impact of the scheme on the proposed Bakerloo Line Extension (BLE), were allayed by a last minute letter to the Council from Transport for London (TfL).

Southernwood Retail Park

A proposal for the development of Southernwood Retail Park is due to be decided at Southwark’s planning committee this Tuesday evening. Developer Glasgow City Council, acting as trustees for its (Strathclyde) Pension Fund, wants permission for a mixed-use development of 725 residential units, with a hotel, cinema, shops, restaurants and offices. The proposed scheme has seven blocks, including a 48-storey tower. The site is currently occupied by Argos and Sports Direct, just opposite Tesco and over the road from Burgess Park.

Delancey deals double blow to shopping centre traders

Traders at the Elephant and Castle shopping centre were dealt a double blow last week, by the closure of Tesco and the erection of a large unsightly hoarding, isolating shops on the second floor.

No room for traders in the new Elephant

Just thirty-six independent traders from the Elephant & Castle shopping centre have been allocated new space in which to trade, in the event of the centre’s demolition and redevelopment. Despite concerns raised by the Chair of the ‘Traders Panel’ and his fellow panel member, the figure is trumpeted in a self-congratulatory press-release from Southwark Council and belies the true situation which is that at least 40 traders have been left out in the cold, according to Latin Elephant, who champion the cause of all independant ethnic minority traders. Southwark News reported that 28 applications for space were rejected.

Elephant shopping centre plans - judicial review sought

Crowdfunding appeal launched - please donate!

A coalition of local people and groups fighting for a fairer regeneration at the Elephant and Castle, including the 35% Campaign, are supporting a legal application to overturn the planning approval for the redevelopment of the Elephant and Castle shopping centre.

2019 - New Year's Resolutions

To welcome the New Year and in a spirit of fraternity we have come up with ten actions that Southwark Council can consider taking, in order to ease the effects of the housing crisis and create a fairer future for the borough’s residents.

Southwark gives Delancey a helping hand

As we anticipated in our last blogpost Delancey missed the deadline for completing the legal S106 agreement that seals the planning approval for the shopping centre’s demolition and redevelopment.

E&C shopping centre - Delancey stumbles after Mayor's approval

Last Monday, shopping centre owner and developer, Delancey, seemed to have finally secured full approval for the redevelopment of the Elephant shopping centre, when Mayor Sadiq Khan declined to intervene in the decision-making. In doing so he allowed Southwark Council’s decision to approve the application to stand and joined them in defying written objections from nine local ward & constituency level Labour parties ¹, two London Assembly members and over a thousand formal objections submitted by local people, against Delancey’s disastrous redevelopment of the Elephant & Castle shopping centre.

1. The following parties wrote to the Mayor objecting to the scheme’s failure to meet minimum affordable housing requirements and provide sufficient relocation measures for traders: Bermondsey & Old Southwark Labour Party; Borough & Bankside Labour Party; North Walworth Labour Party; Faraday Ward Labour Party; St George’s Labour Party; Chaucer Ward Labour Party; Camberwell & Peckham Labour Party, Dulwich and West Norwood Constituency Labour Party and Herne Hill Branch Labour Party ↩

Elephant shopping centre - decision day

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan is due to make a decision on the Elephant shopping centre planning application on Monday, 10 December. Southwark resolved to approve developer Delancey’s proposals back in July, after fierce opposition and three planning committee meetings. Southwark referred the decision to the Mayor on 29 November, when it sent him the legal s106 agreement, which seals the application; he can either approve, direct refusal or take the decision over himself.

Castle Square - Delancey responds

Since our last blog on the Elephant & Castle shopping centre saga, over 100 objections have been made to the temporary boxpark proposals for traders on Castle Square.

11000 new council homes: figures show loss rather than gain

In 2014, as part of its manifesto pledge Southwark Council’s administration announced an “ambitious but realistic plan to build 11,000 new council homes” across the borough over the next 30 years. Concerns were raised by us and in the local press that this would fail to make up for the thousands of council homes currently being lost to ongoing estate regeneration, void disposal policies and Right to Buy applications over the next 30 years.

Elephant Shopping Centre - traders and campaigners step-up the fight

Elephant shopping Centre traders and local campaigners have taken the first step of a legal challenge to Southwark Council’s resolution to approve the shopping centre planning application, while also objecting to the small size of a proposed temporary facility for the traders’ relocation during the 5 years it would take to redevelop the centre.

Ruby Triangle

The first of the very large planning applications lining up to take advantage of the proposed Old Kent Rd Opportunity Area goes to Southwark’s planning committee on Monday 29 October. It is for a mixed-use scheme that would include 1152 homes, with 40.5% affordable housing, two-thirds of which would be social rented. A publicly accessible sports hall/gym and ‘pocket park’ are also promised. The scheme dubbed the ‘Ruby Triangle’ is proposed by a joint venture between A2Dominion Housing association and recently-formed developer Avanton Ltd, which is chaired by former defence secretary Sir Michael Fallon.

Grosvenor takes the biscuit factory

1300 new homes, no social rented

While most eyes have been on developer Delancey’s plans for the redevelopment of the Elephant and Castle shopping centre, on the other side of Southwark an equally large proposal to build over a thousand homes without any social rented housing has been stealthily making its way towards planning permission.

Third time lucky

Shopping centre owner and developer Delancey’s proposals for the Elephant shopping centre narrowly secured approval from the planning committee last Tuesday . The approval is subject to Mayor Sadiq Khan endorsing the decision and the successful conclusion of S106 negotiations, to seal the legal contract between Southwark and Delancey for the delivery of the development. A late application to Historic England for listing the shopping centre has also to be resolved.

Delancey's subsidised profit

Just over a week before the shopping centre planning application goes before Southwark’s planning committee for the third time a slew of viability documents have been released. Given the size of the main document, the full financial viability assessment (FVA) it has not been possible for campaigners to present a complete response, but some interesting facts have come to light nonetheless.

Shopping Centre redevelopment - Delancey tries again

Elephant shopping centre owner and developer Delancey will be hoping it is third time lucky when Southwark’s planning committee considers their application for redeveloping the centre on 3 July. The committee chose not approve the application at two meetings in January and the decision was further deferred because of local elections in May.

Council leader Peter John - the alternative facts

In response to criticism of his administration’s failure to secure social rented housing from developers, last week Southwark Council leader Peter John claimed on Twitter that 40% of new homes delivered in the borough over the last 5 years were social rented:

Elephant & Castle shopping centre update

After a traders’ deputation to Southwark Council and well over 200 objections to the planning application, developer Delancey has amended its plans for the demolition and redevelopment of the shopping centre. The original plans had no provison for current traders, no affordable retail units and no social rented housing. Delancey’s amendments include a draft local business support & relocation strategy, as well as more information about the affordable housing offer.

A Signal embarrassment

Most people are aware that private developments are supposed to provide a certain amount of affordable housing, called S106 contributions. The Signal Building at the Elephant and Castle is one such development - 22 storeys, 38 residential units, with an S106 contribution of 11 affordable homes, to be provided ‘at no cost to the council’ ¹ when planning permission was granted in 2011.

1. See paragraph 1.2.1 pg 48 ↩

Aylesbury CPO- what's really happened

To paraphrase Winston Churchill - there are lies, there are damn lies and then there are Southwark Council press releases.

Blackfriars affordable housing circus

Southwark Council announced last week that 56 new council homes have been provided by a new private development at Blackfriars Circus and that they are a step towards achieving the Council’s ambition to build 11000 new council homes over the next 30 years.

Lendlease banks £113m profit from 'unviable' joint venture with Southwark

Figures published in Lendlease’s 2016 half year financial statement and 2015 portfolio report show that it made a handsome £113m profit from its One the Elephant joint venture development with the Council. Southwark received just a £12.2m share of this. The Council had previously received a £6.6m sum for its land interest and £3.5m towards the £20m cost of the new leisure centre, both included as scheme costs. The £3.5m was in lieu of the scheme providing any affordable housing, which Lendlease claimed would render it unviable.

Traders Betrayed

As residents of the Heygate estate discovered, early regeneration promises made to those pushed aside are seldom kept, but the scale of the unfulfilled committments made by Southwark to the independent small traders at the Elephant & Castle shopping centre puts the Heygate into the shade. The committments are made in a Business Continuity Charter, drawn up by the head of regeneration and recommended to Southwark’s Executive Committee in 2007.

Get Living London - get lost HMRC

Our last blog reported how Delancey has shown great efficiency in its Elephant One development. Delancey and its development partner bought the site for £8m and then increased the purchase price to £18m by flipping it between companies. This was then used to help avoid £58.9m of planning contributions, including affordable housing. Along the way it gained half an acre of public land with which it was to provide a market square, but subsequently ditched the market.

Delancey's dirty tricks

Delancey’s application for the redevelopment of the Elephant & Castle shopping centre includes images of the Market Square, which is part of its neighbouring development Elephant One, also owned and built by Delancey.

Aylesbury CPO appeal - a grounded defence

Thanks to the general public’s generous contributions to our crowdfunding campaign, the Aylesbury Leaseholder Group was able to submit its grounds of defence of the Aylesbury CPO decison last Wedsnesday. The grounds were prepared by barrister Chris Jacobs, of Landmark Chambers, who successfully represented the leaseholders in the final days of the CPO public inquiry.

Aylesbury: Southwark finally granted leave to appeal CPO decision.

As has been widely reported, Southwark Council finally got permission to make its case against the Secretary of State, for his refusal to grant compulsory purchase powers over Aylesbury estate leaseholders. It was Southwark’s second attempt, after first being flatly refused just before Christmas. There can now be a full court hearing, involving all parties, including the leaseholders, probably some time in April.

More boroughs neglect social housing delivery

We reported in December how Southwark Council has been slammed by the ombudsman for having no monitoring or enforcement of section 106 affordable housing provision.

Shopping Centre stitch-up - Delancey submits planning application

Developer Delancey has finally submitted its application for the redevelopment of the Elephant & Castle shopping centre and London College of Communication campus. It will be a mixed use development of shops, offices, homes and campus facilities. It will also provide a new entrance and ticket-hall for the Northern Line tube station.

Southwark's lost section 106 social housing

The Local Government Ombudsman has issued the damning judgement that Southwark Council has no procedure to ensure that social rented housing approved by the Council’s planning committee is actually being delivered. The Ombudsman further found that without a monitoring procedure ‘it is hard to know ..how many social housing units…developers [have] delivered’. Or indeed, how many remain social housing units.’

Heygate profit - north of the facts

Council leader Peter John has claimed that Southwark Council will be getting “north of £100m” from the Heygate estate’s redevelopment as ‘Elephant Park’. He made the claim while being grilled by Steve Cananne of Australian national broadcaster ABC, in a report broadcast on Australian prime time television.

In the full 20min interview with Cllr John posted online, Cllr John defends the shotgun deal he signed with Australian developer Lendlease just weeks after being elected in 2010.

During the interview, Cllr John makes a number of unsubstantiated or inaccurate claims which will be familiar to those who have followed the Heygate saga.

Going nowhere in a hurry

Patrick Duffey, the owner of the Elephant & Castle shopping centre’s bingo hall and bowling alley has announced that he is staying put. In an interview with the local newspaper, Duffey poured water on Delancey’s plans, claiming that he has not been approached about by Delancey about the demolition plans and said “I tell you, this man’s not going anywhere in a hurry. I’m going nowhere.”

Affordable housing loopholes in Old Kent Road plan

Just as Southwark Council embarks on a costly legal battle to evict Aylesbury leaseholders from their homes it is also ploughing ahead with another plan that will turbo-charge the gentrification of a great chunk of south London.

Elephant Park - a populist narrative

Are you a) someone in Southwark in desperate need of a home? or b) a property investor in Hong Kong or Singapore?

Aylesbury Crowdfunding kicks off to successful start

Our crowdfunding campaign to help Aylesbury leaseholders resist Southwark’s attempt to overturn their CPO victory has got off to a great start. We have raised over £2000 in the first week, a testament to the support the leaseholders enjoy. Many thanks to everyone who has donated so far - our target is £7000; we aim to get the leaseholders representation throughout the legal proceedings.

Scrutiny fails - Southwark submits grounds of appeal

Last Monday evening, Southwark’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee rejected calls for the Council’s decision to appeal against the government’s refusal to grant it a CPO against Aylesbury leaseholders to be reconsidered, after it heard that it was powerless to do so.

CPO legal challenge called in for scrutiny

The Aylesbury CPO decision took a further twist this week when Southwark Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee ‘called-in’ the Cabinet’s decision to mount a legal challenge, which it will scrutinise on Monday evening.

Heygate nominated for Stirling Prize

Trafalgar Place, the first completed phase of the Heygate estate redevelopment has been nominated for the Royal Institute of British Architect’s (RIBA) Stirling Prize. It follows the nomination last year of Neo Bankside, another development in north Southwark that failed to provide promised affordable housing.

Southwark to appeal against lost CPO decision

Southwark Council’s shameful response to the government’s refusal to grant it a compulsory purchase order (CPO) application against Aylesbury estate leaseholders, will be to try to overturn the decision through the courts. Southwark’s Cabinet met on Tuesday and agreed to seek a judicial review of the Secretary of State, Sajid Javid’s decision. Experienced observers attending the meeting noted that some members of the committee had some reservations, Cllr Livingstone in particular, who suggested that it would be sensible to get legal counsel’s opinion before approving what could be a costly and futile legal challange - a prudent course of action from the Council’s point of view, which may explain why it has not happened.

Victory for Aylesbury Leaseholders

Leaseholders on the Aylesbury estate have won a great victory in defence of their homes, after the Government refused Southwark Council’s application to compulsory purchase their properties.

Opportunity knocks down the Old Kent Road

The first stage towards knocking down the Heygate estate was to call the Elephant & Castle an ‘Opportunity Area’. So anybody living on a Council estate down the Old Kent Road can be forgiven for being a little worried by Southwark’s proposal to call it an Opportunity Area with a draft Area Action Plan on top.

Restricted Access - Elephant Park

Lend Lease and Southwark Council have flouted public undertakings not to fence in the centrepiece of the Elephant Park redevelopment of the Heygate estate. The new ‘public park’ (falsely billed as the largest in central London for 70 years) is in fact just another example of a linear park - much loved by developers because they can line it with shops on both sides. This one will be no wider than the Old Kent Road at any given point.

At fault and unjust - Southwark slammed by Ombudsman

The Local Government Ombudsman has delivered a damning verdict on Southwark’s eviction of the last leaseholder from the Heygate estate. She has ruled that Southwark was at ‘fault’, causing the leaseholder an ‘injustice’ and has directed that Southwark give a written apology and make compensation payments amounting to over £11,000. She further directed that Southwark produce proper policies and procedures for dealing with the compulsory purchase of leaseholder properties. Southwark Council has agreed with the Ombudsman’s proposals for remedying the injustice.

Dulwich Hamlet - unviable but profitable

Dulwich Hamlet FC is a much-loved Southwark football club with an impressive history. This is their Champion Hill ground adjacent to Green Dale playing fields where the club has been playing since 1931: Dulwich Hamlet FC & Green Dale Playing Fields pre-1990s: ca. 15 Hectares of public open space

No profit for Southwark

“Lend Lease have informed the Council that no overage is forecast at the end of phase 1(Trafalgar Place)” Response to FOI request ref:570320

Southwark in bottom 3 boroughs for affordable housing delivery

Southwark is one of the worst three boroughs in London when it comes to delivery of social rented housing. Only 3% of the total homes delivered in 2014/15 were affordable and -5% of the total delivered was social rented (it is a minus figure because more have been knocked down or sold off than have been built)¹.

1. Actually it’s worse: the figure is improved to -5% by taking account of the 75 affordable rent units - a tenure which Southwark specifically excludes from its housing and planning policies. Neither does the figure take into account the loss of council homes lost through the right to buy during that period. ↩

Lendlease says jump - Southwark jumps

Southwark Council has bowed to developers’ will and restricted public access to financial viability appraisals of planning applications. Instead of being published when planning applications are submitted, the appraisals will be published just one week before the planning committee takes its decision. The changes were made following pressure from developers, who have long been using these appraisals to reduce the amount of affordable housing they have to build.

Camberwell Chic

With the redevelopment of the nearby Aylesbury and Elmington estates now under full steam, epic regeneration has now officially embraced Camberwell and social rented housing is the victim.

Affordable housing - a mirage wrapped in an illusion

Taking its cue from the 35% campaign’s corporate complaint, Southwark News has revealed the reality behind the great affordable housing illusion.

Town hall sell off - price on application

Completing london's clearances

David Cameron’s announcement that the government will be regenerating 100 council estates across the country, should send a chill down the spine of every council tenant and leaseholder in the country.

Heygate sell-off: How much are we getting?

Local activist Peter Tatchell went head-to-head with Council leader Peter John on a recent BBC Politics show. Tatchell accused the leader of selling off the 25-acre Heygate estate for £50m when the Council had valued the site previously at £150m.

CPO powers to be used on shopping centre traders

Southwark Council’s Cabinet has said it will be prepared to use Compulsory Purchase powers to remove retailers from the Elephant & Castle shopping centre, to enable its redevelopment by its owner Delancey.

Notting Hill comes clean on rents

The rents that Aylesbury tenants will have to pay to stay on their newly developed estate have finally been revealed by Notting Hill Housing Trust – and they are shocking. A one bed flat on the first development site will cost £157 per week inclusive of service charges, compared to a current inclusive council rent of about £105 per week. A new 2-bed flat will be £166pw, against current council rents on the Aylesbury of £124pw for a 2-bed inclusive of service charges, heating & hot water.

Southwark backs down over 'social' housing definitions

We have been blogging for some time now about developments routinely breaching planning conditions and Southwark’s failure to monitor compliance. In March this year we stumbled upon a development by Notting Hill Housing Association, that had delivered affordable rent instead of the social rent agreed at planning approval.

We're all on the list

Southwark council is due to discuss progress on its plans to build 11,000 council homes on Tuesday evening and will be considering a report by global property consultant Savills. This measures the performance of all Southwark’s 406 council estates or ‘asset groups’ as Savills calls them. Savills does not use Peter John’s ‘penile drugs injection’ test as a measure of a community’s success, but its pseudo-scientific approach is not much better. It lumps together stock condition and maintenance costs with socio-economic measurements such as income levels and educational attainment, to give each council estate a rating.

Councillor John promises to reveal all

Viability assessments, the secret documents that developers use to reduce the amount of affordable housing they build, will now have to be made public, according to this interview that council leader Peter John gave in the Southwark News last week.

Completing the masterplan - Shopping centre traders to be booted out

Just as the dust settles on the rubble of the Heygate estate, consultation begins on the demise of another large part of the Elephant & Castle’s local community.

Heygate viability assessment finally revealed

After three years of appeals by Southwark Council and its development partner Lend Lease, Adrian Glasspool has finally received the viability assessment for the Heygate outline masterplan in response to his May 2012 FOI/EIR request. Southwark had initially rejected the request and appealed after his subsequent complaint was upheld by the Information Commissioner. A long battle through the Tribunal system then culminated in a 6 day hearing in February last year, followed by a decision notice directing Southwark to release the assessment minus some of its financial modelling figures¹. Following a further dispute about exactly which figures could be withheld, the Tribunal resumed and issued a final decision in March this year. The viability assessment was then received in April and after examination by sympathetic industry experts we can now disclose our findings. The Heygate tribunal case has since triggered decisions to disclose viability information for other large regeneration schemes including Earls Court regeneration and Greenwich Peninsula.

1. The Tribunal ruled that Lend Lease could withold its financial model in appendix 22 of the viability assessment and commercial information relating to Lend Lease’s negotiations with other businesses - see paras 55 & 56 of the decision notice respectively. ↩

£63m public money to build 274 private homes

Tory Housing Minister Brandon Lewis has announced the third round of successful bidders in the government’s Build to Rent fund.

Aylesbury CPO Inquiry - Extra Time

The Aylesury CPO Inquiry resumed back at the Den on Tuesday, but by the end of day the Inspector had decided extra time was needed. She accepted the objectors’ argument that there were still legal questions to be answered, among others about the absence of a successful ballot result in favour of demolition. She also agreed that objectors needed more time to get legal assistance and that it will probably be autumn before the the inquiry resumes. We understand that the leaseholders have since instructed Landmark Chambers to act on their behalf.

Aylesbury CPO Inquiry - Into the Lion's Den

The Public Inquiry into the Aylesbury Compulsory Purchase Order was adjourned on Friday (until 12th May), after four days of sharp argument between Southwark Council and objectors to the order. This is the third CPO Southwark has sought in relation to the Aylesbury regeneration and we can expect many more as it seeks to get rid of leaseholders who do not accept its derisory compensation offers.

Aylesbury Applications Approved

Southwark council battoned down the hatches at their Tooley Street headquarters last Thursday, in preparation for the controversial Aylesbury planning application committee hearing. In the event, Aylesbury tenants and leaseholders were bitterly disappointed when the six hour meeting approved the applications.

Aylesbury redevelopment - decision day

The planning applications for the redevelopment of the Aylesbury estate are to be considered by Southwark council’s planning commitee on Thursday evening. Officers recommend that approval be granted - their report on the outline masterplan application can be found here.

Manifesto for the destruction of council estates

The prestigious Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) has published a policy paper that proposes the wholesale demolition of London’s council estates, in the name of regeneration and to allow for the creation of so-called ‘City Villages’.

Stand up for more social housing (at 80% market rent)

“Let’s all of us stand up for more social housing” was the call to arms during the ‘impassioned speech’ from Notting Hill Housing Trust’s Director Kate Davies at yesterday’s ‘Homes for Britain’ rally. The rally was part of an ongoing campaign organised by the National Housing Federation, of which NHHT is a founding member.

Peabody's philanthropic glass towers - 0% social housing

Peabody Housing Association has finally submitted a Planning application for its long-awaited Borough Triangle development at Elephant & Castle. This large triangle of land sits between Southbank University, Borough road and the Crown Court on Newington Causeway.

Council Housing - going up or coming down?

Just before Christmas Southwark Council issued a press release, accompanied by a lovely map entitled “Housing Estates and Sites for New Council Homes”, which shows where 1500 of Southwark’s 11000 new council homes will be built.

Council sells council homes to build new ('social and private') 'council' homes

We wrote in October about the council’s plan to earmark a number of its housing estates for demolition using an ‘Asset Performance Evaluation Tool’, which would take into account factors like residents’ income. The results of its survey were supposed to be presented at next week’s Cabinet meeting, but the December Cabinet report shows that this has now been postponed until January.

Southwark fails to deliver

The Heygate viability assessment saga took a new turn last week. Southwark Council failed to produce the assessment by the given deadline and all parties have been called back to a Tribunal hearing on 11th Dec.

Aylesbury estate planning applications - 934 social rented homes to be lost

After waiting over a month for them to be ‘validated’ by the council, the planning documents for the Aylesbury estate revelopment are now online. The application for the First Development Site seeks permission to demolish the Bradenham, Chartridge & Chiltern blocks comprising 630 homes and replace them with 815 new homes (ref:14-AP-3843); 362 of these will be at ‘target rent’ - a net loss of 204 units (provided that target rent is equivalent to social rent). The amount of free market housing on this first phase will increase from 64 homes (initially bought under right-to-buy) to 412 and there will also be 102 intermediate units.

Southwark's gamekeepers turned poachers

Last week’s international property fair MIPIM wasn’t just for developers and councils, it was also for those who help developers lobby councils. Four Communications is one such company. It says it offers teams of experts who “provide support at every stage of the planning, marketing and communications process” and helps to secure “political support in the face of public opposition”.

Extract from MIPIM attendees list

MIPIM, Southwark and its 11000 new 'private and social' council homes

The MIPIM Jamboree last week attracted much protest and media comment, including articles in the Guardian and on the Left Foot Forward blog, which noted that “the Heygate Estate has become the paradigmatic example of the MIPIM-model of property development”.

Southwark gets its reward

Southwark prides itself on being a ‘developer friendly’ borough. It has been endorsed by Lend Lease Director Rob Deck as a ‘can do’ council and it has been shortlisted (by developers) for the award of ‘Best UK Planning Authority’ at next week’s MIPIM jamboree. But pressure is mounting on all councils including Southwark to withdraw from the MIPIM backscratching get-together. Over two dozen community groups, charities and trade unions have opposed MIPIM. Unite, Britains largest union has written to all of London’s Labour-controlled councils asking them to “withdraw from participation in MIPIM and the close relationships with private developers that the event seeks to foster.”; three have done so but not Southwark.

Let's talk about... Peter's promises

Southwark Council leader Peter John has pledged that the 11,000 new council homes to be built over the next 30 years will not entail the demolition of the same number of existing council homes. In an open letter to all residents Cllr John says;

Elephant Traders - not in the pink

We blogged on 12th July about Social Life, a social enterprise based on the Pullens estate. They have now completed their research on the Elephant & Castle shopping centre redevelopment and how it is affecting the traders there. A concise and impressive report is now available here. Its conclusions will not surprise people familiar with the shopping centre. It says: “Overall, traders are anxious and concerned about the redvelopment. Many of the traders have mixed feelings about the plans.”;“The shopping centre is an important social space for traders, local people and regular customers and it plays a hugely important role in the social life of the local community.”;“The shopping centre supports dense networks of social relationships in the local area, across London and globally.”

Setting the record straight

Southwark Council has had its feathers ruffled by both the Guardian and the BBC lately. A Guardian article by Oliver Wainright uses the redevelopment of the Heygate estate as an example of how developers are ‘exploiting planning authorities and ruining our cities’.

Notting Hill Housing Trust - Quids in with Boris

Notting Hill Housing Trust is an important provider of housing in Southwark, both ‘affordable’ and private. It has plans to build more than 4000 homes in Southwark; 3500 of these will be on the Aylesbury estate, which it is redeveloping in partnership with Britain’s largest - and the mayor’s favourite - housebuilder Barratt Homes. According to the NHHT website, a hybrid application comprising outline planning for the whole Aylesbury and detailed planning for the first phase is due to be submitted by the NHHT/Barratt consortium next month.

mind the (Elephantine) gap

A £64m funding gap for the infrastructure improvements of the Elephant & Castle regeneration has been identified by Southwark Council. The figure is given in its submission to the Government inspector examining Southwark’s plans for raising funds from developers through the new Community Infrastructure Levy.

Southwark's mysterious estate renewal zone

Our search to identify mystery Objector 1301 - who is lobbying for subsidies to knock down Southwark’s council estates at next week’s CIL public inquiry - has brought some clarity but also some more mystery with it.

PRS - (Private Rip-off Sector)

Delancey has been very shy about telling us what rents it will be charging for its new Private Rented Sector (PRS) homes in its shopping centre and Tribeca Square developments (which could total around 2000 units). We can now tell you: at least £375 per week for a 1-bed and £500 per week for a 2-bed flat; hardly rents that are “relevant to Londoners earning London wages” as Delancey has hitherto maintained. We know this because it is written in the evidence¹ submitted on behalf of Delancey by its representative Deloitte to next week’s public inquiry examining Southwark’s new Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) charging schedules:

1. See page 187 of submitted written representations to CIL Charging Schedule ↩

Where there's bronze there's brass

Just when we thought the Heygate pyramid had set the limits on misconceived artistic collaborations at the Elephant, we got wind of the latest ‘triumphant elephant’ sculpture proposal. According to documents posted on artist Sam Keil’s website “the team responsible for the redevelopment of the Elephant and Castle district in South London have commissioned Sam to sculpt a major piece for a new public square”.

London Assembly investigates refurbishment vs demolition

Last Friday saw the second meeting of the London Assembly’s investigation into the refurbishment and demoliton of council estates. The first meeting in June had heard from regeneration industry ‘specialists’, who caused a stir when Stephen McDonald, Southwark’s former head of regeneration boasted about winning an award for ‘emptying’ the Heygate of its residents in under a year. Stephen is now working for Barnet Council emptying the West Hendon estate of its residents.

Aylesbury estate - 42 more residents face Compulsory Purchase

In China homeowners who stand in the way of new developments can refuse compensation if they are prepared to stay put in ‘nail houses’. In Britain homeowners don’t have that option - sooner or later they would have to accept whatever is offered, as the leaseholders on Southwark’s Aylesbury estate are finding out.

Notting Hill no social Housing Trust

One of the most characterful development sites within the the Elephant and Castle Opportunity Area is the Manor Place Baths. The baths provided laundry and bathing facilities to Walworth people for 80 years, until demolition of the surrounding streets and the removal of the local population to the Heygate and Ayelsbury estates sounded its death knell in the 80’s; it was replaced as a swimming pool by the Elephant & Castle leisure centre, the baths were filled in by Southwark Council in 1998 and the buildings were then used by the Council’s Environmental Services department until their relocation in 2012.

Aylesbury leaseholder fights 'incestuous' valuations

As reported in our previous blog post, this week saw a second Aylesbury leaseholder fighting the council’s controversial compensation valuations at the Upper Lands Tribunal. In buying back homes on the estate the Council has consistently maintained that all leaseholders are given ‘market value’ in compensation for the loss of their homes. Last week we learned how it arrives at its market value calculation by using illegaly-converted flats as comparable market evidence. This week we learned more about its valuation procedures.

Another Aylesbury leaseholder goes to lands tribunal

As mentioned in our previous blog post, this week will see a second Aylesbury estate leaseholder taking the council to the Lands Tribunal over low valuations following its Compulsory Purchase Order of homeowners on the Wolverton block (site 7 of the regen). 59 family maisonettes, a sports pitch and around 30 mature trees have been demolished to make way for ‘Harvard Gardens’.

Southwark's rogue landlords - enforcement or endorsement?

We have written briefly before about the Aylesbury estate leaseholders subjected to CPO proceedings and how the council’s low valuations of their homes shares similarities with the story of the Heygate’s leaseholders.

Heygate FOI appeal decision - Tribunal delivers verdict

The 35% campaign welcomes the latest - and hopefully final - decision in the battle to make the Heygate viability assessment public. The Information Tribunal has directed that the whole viability assessment be made public, apart from developer Lend Lease’s bespoke development model in the assessment’s final appendix and the calculations concerning retail & office space - all other information has to be disclosed. Lend Lease and Southwark have been given 28 days to supply the information Commmissioner with the information as outlined by the Tribunal’s decision notice. All parties may appeal the decision but only on a point of law.

The Elephant goes offshore

Developer Delancey has registered its land holdings at the Elephant & Castle to tax havens in Bermuda, Panama and the British Virgin Islands.

The Elephant's new Ivory Towers </br>Click here to view our interactive map in a separate browser window

Middlemen on the make

It was announced earlier this month that the Elephant’s 360 tower is in line for yet more public funding. As mentioned in a previous blog post, the land for this private development was purchased with £18m of public money back in 2007 to provide key worker housing by English Partnerships, a public housing agency. This all fell through and the development was eventually awarded last summer to developers Essential Living by Mayor Boris Johnson. The 360 Tower is now on the short-list for funding from the government’s £1bn build-to-rent scheme, which is designed to help developers build large-scale housing developments specifically for private rent.

Mission Possible - bringing viability assessments out of the dark

Following the successful FOI request by Heygate campaigners, Earls Court community activists have also succeeded with their FOI request for disclosure of viability documents behind their local regeneration scheme, which - like the Heygate - has a great absence of truly affordable housing. The Information Commissioner cites the Heygate decision in his decision notice.

Heygate Tribunal Hearing Extended

The scheduled 5 day hearing of Southwark Council’s appeal against the Information Commissioner’s order to release the viability assessment for the Heygate redevelopment will now run into a sixth day. The Tribunal will reconvene on the 18 February to hear final submissions from barristers. The viability assessment details why developers Lend Lease cannot deliver the 35% affordable housing required by Southwark’s housing policy, as well as failing to fulfil other policy objectives such as providing a car-free development.

Heygate Viability Figures Tribunal Appeal

The 35% Campaign will be giving evidence this week at the 5-day Tribunal hearing for Southwark Council’s Appeal against the Information Commissioner’s ruling to disclose the Heygate financial viability figures.

D'One at the Elephant

Land Registry documents reveal that Southwark Council sold 1.4 acres of the old leisure centre site to developer Lend Lease for the bargain price of £6.5m. The site will now be home to ‘One the Elephant’ - a 37 storey tower with 4 storey pavillion. Lend Lease also recently acquired the 25-acre Heygate estate site for a generous £50m. </br></br>

Stack em high - 1,000 homes on the shopping centre site?

New owners of the shopping center Delancey is looking to build in excess of 1,000 new homes on the recently acquired site, according to the man who arranged the partnership between Delancey and its financial backer APG - Chris Lacey of CBRE.

Kim Humphreys - exit stage left, enter stage right

There was much surprise at Southwark’s Overview and Scrutiny Meeting last Monday, when new shopping centre owner ‘Delancey’ turned up accompanied by Southwark Council’s former deputy leader and head of housing Kim Humphreys. Kim is now ‘Carvil Ventures’ - an independent corporate finance and real-estate consultancy and is advising global property developer Delancey. He is not the first former senior councillor to take this road: former council leader Jeremy Fraser founded PR consultancy ‘Four Communications’ after leaving the council, which advised developer Oakmayne and prepared part of the planning application for its Eileen House development.

Heygate pyramid proposed – pharaoh included?

The Heygate is to get a pyramid. Turner Prize nominee Mike Nelson and public arts organisation Artangel Trust would like to reconfigure one of the Heygate’s maisonette blocks to build a giant square pyramid, not far from where the last Heygate resident was evicted last week. Artangel organised ‘Seizure’, the blue crystal-filled council flat, also at the Elephant a couple of years ago. Artist Mike was described ‘as the next big thing’ by the Guardian in 2001, and in the spirit of artistic intervention we have here our own image of how Southwark Council leader Peter John might look in his new role.

Southwark sends in the Heavies

The last resident of the Heygate estate was forcibly evicted from his home today. A team of bailiffs from Shergroup Ltd accompanied by police and officers from Southwark Council arrived at lunchtime, and after a short conversation the last resident left - with the help of the bailiffs. No notice of the impending eviction was issued to him, his surveyor or solicitor.

The end for the last Heygate residents

Southwark Council stole our homes and we are not going to forget it. (Terry Redpath, Former Heygate Leaseholder)

Oakmayne vs Ministry of Sound - Round 198

The decision on the Eileen House planning application, 335 flats, 41 stories has been delayed once more. The public hearing that was to be held 24 Oct at City Hall has been postponed for ‘procedural reasons’. Previous hearings in March and February were also cancelled. While Southwark’s housing waiting list accelerates upwards, developers Oakmayne and the Ministry of Sound have battled over the fate of this key development site. The application was submitted in 2009 and rejected by Southwark in 2011. The power of decision was then taken over by Boris Johnson, who has been reviewing it ever since.

Lean, Clean and Green but a bit Contradictory

Last week, Elephant & Castle developer Lend Lease was awarded participant status in Bill Clinton’s Global Climate Initiative. According to C40 Cities Group - a group of cities world-wide combating the effects of climate change - ‘Climate Positive Development Partners have made a commitment to achieve net-negative, on-site, operational greenhouse gas emissions’.

Something Sinister?

The Evening Standard, Inside Housing, Property Week, as well as the local press, have printed stories about Southwark Council’s appeal against the Information Commissioner’s decision that it make the Heygate masterplan viability assessment public. Regeneration Cabinet member Councillor Fiona Colley blames a minority of people looking fruitlessly for something sinister.
Cllr Colley misses the point: the problem isn’t that there might be something sinister going on, the problem is that Southwark has lost about 600 social rented units because Elephant developers routinely use viability assessments to avoid building them.

Here and Now

Last week German national newspaper Die Welt featured this picture of the Heygate as a symbol of Britain’s social decline and the “Krieg der Reichen gegen die Armen” - the rich’s war against the poor.

Towering Disgrace

£18m public money spent but no social rented housing

The Elephant - Sold on and Sold out

The start of work on One the Elephant was marked with some ceremony this week by developers Lend Lease, including a visit by the mayor of London Boris Johnson. However it was a bit unfortunate for both him and Southwark Council that the symbolically important development has no affordable housing.

How to avoid providing affordable housing - a guide for developers

Since our last blog post we have been asked to explain more about viability assessments - also known as viability reports. These are a developer’s analysis of the finances of their own scheme, and if this self-assessment demonstrates to the council’s satisfaction that the scheme is not financially viable, then the developer is able do duck out of providing affordable housing.

Heygate Figures must be Revealed - Information Commissioner

Southwark Council has been ordered to disclose the financial viability assessment provided by developer Lend Lease to secure the approval of its Heygate masterplan application. This assessment justified the reduction in the affordable housing requirement from 35% to 25% and the reduction of social rented housing to just 71 units.

Heygate leaseholders forced to sell their homes - CPO approved

The Compulsory Purchase of the remaining 3 leaseholders on the Heygate estate has been approved by Eric Pickles, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. This will allow Southwark Council to buy out the properties at way below the local market rate.

Regeneration branded 'miserable failure' at CPO Public Inquiry

Southwark’s Elephant & Castle regeneration plans were branded “a miserable failure” by former Heygate residents at a public inquiry into the Heygate Compulsory Purchase Order.

A little bit of Shoreditch coming to the Elephant?

Six months after the appearance of 48 large shipping containers on the forecourt of the former Shell garage on the Walworth rd by the Heygate estate, a planning application for their uses has finally appeared. It has been submitted by ‘Artworks’, who were chosen to provide interim uses on the Heygate site during the period of its redevelopment. The model for the boxpark is a scheme in Shoreditch. The proposal is for studios, bars, business/workspace, retail, markets, cafe/restaurant, gallery, community, and ‘stay-work’ uses for a maximum 5 year period.

The Heygate Diaspora

“There is a huge silent majority of people that have been moved out of the Heygate that are happy in their new homes.” (Cllr Fiona Colley, Cabinet Member for Regeneration)

Peter's Denial

There was no sound of a cock crowing, but when asked in a recent radio interview if it is correct that there would only be 79 social rented units on the new Heygate, council leader Peter John replied ‘no’ three times.

Hoarding the Elephant

An eagle-eyed member of the local community has noticed that the licence that allows the hoarding surrounding the Tribeca Square site - formerly known as Oakmayne Plaza, formerly known as the Volvo garage - has expired. Perhaps the licence has since been renewed, but the hoarding stretching from the New Kent road down Elephant road to the Walworth road, has been a great nuisance and inconvenience to pedestrians since 2006. After a spurt of on-site activity in 2009 progress has halted.

Pink Shopping Centre Blues

Mystery abounds about what is happening with the Elephant & Castle shopping centre. An article purporting to give the latest information on www.costar.co.uk was removed from their website after only a day. But the google cached version can still be viewed here If the article is accurate it looks like nothing will be done until 2014 at the earliest; shopping centre owner St. Modwen/Salhia promised a planning application by the end of this year. It seems that St. Modwen and Southwark cannot agree on the amount of housing the development should have: St. Modwen want 1,000 new homes but Southwark council want no more than 500. No details are given of how much affordable housing either option would provide.

Objectors excluded from sell-out Heygate hearing

Objectors are fuming after being refused entry to Tuesday’s public hearing for the Heygate masterplan planning application.

Will the Planning Committee see sense?

Weak finances, minimal social rented housing, a privatised public realm, vague energy proposals, environmentally suspect and car-friendly – the masterplan application for the regeneration of the Elephant and Castle has finally arrived after 13 years waiting.

Heygate Application - Will objectors get a fair hearing?

The biggest planning application ever submitted to Southwark Council is due to be heard by its planning committee on 15 January - the Heygate outline masterplan (12/AP/1092). It has taken Southwark 9 months to evaluate this huge application with more than 350 supporting documents, and objectors are frustrated that they will only be given 3 minutes between them to voice their concerns.

Has Southwark sold the Elephant short?

Council documents show that Southwark taxpayers have now forked out at least £38m in emptying the Heygate estate, and are about to put their hands in their pockets for at least another £15m to pay for its demolition.

East Walworth by-election - the result

Congratulations to the successful labour party candidate and new East Walworth ward councillor Rebecca Lury. Commiserations to Ben Johnson (Lib Dem) and Stuart Millson (Conservative).

It's all happening now

East Walworth by-election - Labour, Lib Dem and even the Conservative activists have been energetically fighting for votes in the East Walworth ward in the run-up to polling day on Nov 29th.

How green will the new Heygate be?

Fairer Future - Delivering our Promises

Neo Elephant - social tenants not welcome

“There is no affordable housing provision within the proposed scheme.” (Planning Application ref 12/AP/2239, Housing Statement Paragraph 7.3)

Southwark Council rolled over by Lend Lease - again!

Southwark Council confirmed that there are only going to be 8 social rented units on phase 1 of the Heygate redevelopment, a net loss of 97 social rented units on this part of the Heygate site.

Heygate Cinema Celebrates Opening Night

Following last year’s attempts by Southwark Council to prosecute remaining residents involved in Better Elephant’s interim use programme, this year Better Elephant decided to create a pop-up cinema which can be popped up and then quickly popped down again.

Affordable Housing - Can it get any worse?

The Government has just announced that developers can re-negotiate S106 agreements for so-called stalled development sites. These agreements fund community infrastructure and affordable housing. There are several ways in which this might affect developments at the Elephant & Castle.

London's largest new private park in 70 years

Developer Lend Lease has rebranded its 25 acre Heygate redevelopment ‘Elephant Park’ and made much of the new ‘public’ park it will be building. But many still remember that the site used to be home to a sizeable public park called Elephant Park, which enjoyed public open space designation in the council’s planning policy¹.

1. Elephant Park was designated as Public Open Space (ref:A20) in the borough’s Unitary Development Plan ↩

It's all about Financial Viability

The redevelopment of the Heygate estate is essentially a land sale to a private developer. The Council get a capital receipt for the land and the developer provides some infrastructure and community benefits. There is an assumed profit to the developer of 20% of the total costs plus the profit left over when all the new buildings have been sold. The community benefits that were originally supposed to be provided in return for the Heygate redevelopment were to include:

Environmental Impact Understatement

The Elephant & Castle regeneration has been hailed as a global example for sustainable growth. It has been declared an ‘Energy Action Area’ by the GLA and in 2009 it was fortunate enough to be selected by Bill Clinton as one of 16 worldwide projects signed up to the Clinton Climate Positive Development Program, which aims to create ‘carbon neutral’ urban development.

How low can you go?

“The application documents do not refer to a minimum level of 25% affordable housing” (Case Planning Officer(12/AP/1092), 18 May 2012)

How much affordable housing are we getting?

Southwark Council and Developers Lend Lease have been provoked into reiterating their commitment to a minimum guarantee of 25% affordable housing by the 35% campaign.