Agenda item

[Report of the Director of Housing, Regeneration and Planning.  To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for House Building, Place-Making and Development]

This report will seek a decision on the preferred option for inclusion in a future ballot on the Broadwater Farm Estate, following consultation with residents

The Cabinet Member for House-Building, Place-Making and Development introduced the report which sought approval to include the demolition and re-provision of homes in the Stapleford North Wing block in the ‘preferred design scenario’ which would be presented to Broadwater Farm residents in a resident ballot in the coming months.

The Cabinet Member responded to questions from the Cabinet:

-           There were 24 properties which would be affected (21 tenants).  Residents had been engaged with and made aware of all options, which also included building around the wing, which would result in living with the disruption of a building site.

-           The Residents Association had been engaged with and further meetings would be held with them.

The Cabinet Member responded to questions from Councillor Palmer:

-           The information in the exempt appendices could not be discussed in the public part of the meeting.  The consultation had involved a small number of people and some of the responses received could identify residents, and so that information had been made exempt.

-           Home Loss and Disturbance Payments would be made to help with the cost of moving properties. 

-           Rents would be calculated on the same basis as they currently were and would take into consideration the size, location and design of properties.

-           The recent Love Lane ballot had been carried out in line with relevant protocols, and the people on the estate had been provided with the full landlord offer prior to the ballot taking place.

Further to considering exempt information at item 22,

RESOLVED to

1.         Note the feedback of the consultation from secure tenants in Stapleford North pursuant of Section 105 of the Housing Act 1985, and the non-statutory consultation with Council leaseholders of the same block, as described in paragraphs 6.3-6.16 and as set out in Appendix 1;

2.         Authorise the inclusion of the demolition and reprovision of Stapleford North wing (flats 25-36 and 61-72) on Broadwater Farm in the ‘preferred design scenario’ and subsequent resident ballot. 

Reasons for decision

The recommendations within this Cabinet report are being proposed following a consultation with residents on the future of the Stapleford North block.

The consultation presented residents with two main options but also gave residents the opportunity to raise further options for the Council to consider, if they felt that this was appropriate:

1)     Option one: To refurbish the homes in Stapleford North and work with residents throughout the works to minimise disruption.

2)     Option two: To demolish the Stapleford North block and rehouse current residents, with a Right to Return to the estate once the new homes are built.

Residents were also encouraged to indicate if they felt there were any options we hadn’t considered and were presented with a third potential option, for permanent rehousing for the duration of the Northolt works. Responses to this are expanded on at 5.2 of this report and in Appendix 1 to this report.

The consultation has now been concluded and resident feedback has been received. Of the 21 eligible households, 21 responses were received (100%). 13 were in favour of the demolition and reprovision of Stapleford North being included in the forthcoming resident ballot and 8 were in favour of retention and refurbishment.

This paper recommends that proposals to demolish and re-provide new homes are included within the forthcoming ballot. The paper also considers the reasons why residents were not in favour of the approach and sets out proposals to work with residents in the coming months to address these reasons.

With the intended ballot on proposals for Broadwater Farm in Autumn 2021, this is a period of considerable uncertainty for residents about their future housing. Through the rehousing team and the independent advisor, officers will work with residents to ensure they understand the next steps of the process and are supported at each stage.

Alternative options considered

As mentioned above, the consultation document sent to residents presented two main options for consideration, these were: Option 1 – refurbishing homes within the Stapleford North block and working with residents throughout the period of works to minimise disruption and Option 2 – Demolishing the Stapleford North block and rehousing residents.

The document also explained that a further option would be for all residents of Stapleford North to be rehoused for the duration of the works and then have the option to move back into a refurbished Stapleford North block once the works were complete. This was not presented as a main option because it would require residents to move for a period of up to three and a half years, which would be disruptive and inconvenient for residents. However, the consultation document made clear that residents could ask that this, or any other option be considered by the council if they wished. Only 1 resident referred to this option, as such it is not being taken forward.