David u-w
@daviduw92
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New Cross boy. Arsenal fan. Campaigning against demolition of social housing and social cleansing of communities. With @achilles_newx all the way. #RetroFirst
Lewisham, London
Joined January 2015
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I wrote a shortish piece on estate demolition. I look at the economics of demolition, managed decline, class dynamics, and dodgy ballots.
Give it a read if you get the chance 👇
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I will never stop banging on about the Lewisham Gateway development.
Prices are now available for the 500k for a one-bed flat. The land was gifted to the developers by Lewisham Council. They then gave the consortium of developers millions in grants from your ££.
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I wrote my dissertation on the UK’s housing crisis. I was allowed 10,000 words but I only needed two.
First word: SUPPLY
Second word: DEMAND
Got a first. Tutor said they had never seen such a concise yet cutting analysis on the economics of housing. Everyone cheered!
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This is where I grew up. Post-war purpose built council housing. It's Achilles Street - bang in the middle of New Cross.
Like 100s of other 'estates' across London, it's under threat of demolition.
It's the most socially and environmentally regressive policy happening atm.
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It’s finally clicked… We solve the housing crisis by getting the private sector to build homes that people can’t afford in the hope they become affordable. We then beg for crumbs of social housing.
That’s it. That’s the plan 💡
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I shouldn’t read things I know will wind me up but this takes it to another level 🤢
Proper grim stuff from a housing association 🖕
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Finally got round to reading this. Would recommend for a detailed yet readable look at the web of vested interests that are sustaining and profiting from the UK’s housing crisis.
Really does emphasise how reductive and banal the conversation is on housing.
“Planning reform” lol
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Watching the ‘We Are England’ doc on IPlayer…
Quick note to producers:
Estates never fall into disrepair. It’s not an accident. It’s a conscious decision made to deliberately disinvest and neglect on-going maintenance costs.
They do it to grind residents down.
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😂 😂 Don’t forget the meaningless jargon plastered on the sides…
“aspire” “connection” “get living”
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Brilliant thread. The history of council housing is incredibly relevant to the present.
The idea that it’s a drain on public finances needs to be addressed and dismissed.
How do we know council housing has brought in more money than it’s taken over the years?
Here’s a long and 🤓 thread for anyone who wants to know about the history of council housing and how it was paid for…
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Wages 📉
Rents 📈
I look around London and I see new builds everywhere. I don’t know anyone that can afford to live in them though. Saw a two-bed in Lewisham Centre for £2,150…
If you’re not on big bucks you’re not wanted in Inner London.
My friend just told me their nephew went to view a 2 bed property in Brixton that was put up this morning. £2250 per month. 29 other people booked a viewing too. The Landlord has said everyone can now bid against each other. The highest bidder will be able to rent the property😳
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Why is the quality of new build construction never spoken about? This isn’t an isolated case!
This is what happens when you allow developers to knock things up on the cheap.
Corners get cut and the people that actually and end up living in them are the very last consideration.
Southwark
👇
Demolition begins of Peckham Rye flats built just twelve years ago
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The absurd state of UK housing is starting to get coverage. Why? Because it is impacting the middle classes.
If it leads to change, good. But let’s not pretend that social cleansing, displacement, shoddy conditions, and neglected repairs haven’t been a fact of life for decades.
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Catch a train from Catford into London and tell me “we’re not building anything”. New developments popping up all over the gaff.
Why aren’t you living in one? Because they are built for the upper end of the market or as investment opportunities for the global asset market.
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Every time I go past Lewisham I get pissed off. Thousands of homes being built - a vast majority of which won’t be affordable to local people.
Someone tell me how a 2-bed flat being sold for £500k is “good for the area”?
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I'm still waiting for the sharp fall in rental prices thanks to the sudden increase of housing supply in Lewisham Centre...⌚️
Let's also not forget that the Council gifted a consortium of developers public land to build investment opportunities for the global asset market.
'Nohopia': following Owen Hatherley's description of the 'regeneration' of Lewisham as 'Notopia' in 2016, I've updated it, as unaffordable 'Build to Rent' properties & student housing continue to make it an alienating & deeply undesirable high-rise hell
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WHY WHY WHY does no one look at the economics of estate demolition when covering it.
Buildings built 70 years ago would have paid for themselves many times over and generated surpluses for social landlords.
Estates are always framed as a drain on £. The opposite is true.
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I don’t know how many people need to hear this…
THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE PROFITED MOST FROM THE HOUSING CRISIS ARE NOT GOING TO BE THE ONES THAT WILL SOLVE IT!
Anyone that is arguing for more power for property developers should be ignored (and laughed at) 🥴
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Yeah it isn’t subsidised. Council housing generates a surplus which in an ideal world would be used to maintain stock properly and build more.
Sadly, in the council housing where I grew up, the £2.6m surplus was used to make plans for demolition while maintenance was neglected.
“Social housing is subsidised” has become received opinion through repetition and because it sort of “sounds true.”
It isn’t 👍
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Do people think that just saying the words ‘supply’ and ‘demand’ does something lol?
Housing obviously doesn’t function as a free market (no such thing).
Equating housing to some kind of consumer good is the same ballpark as comparing national economies to a household budget.
"Housing doesn't seem to function in the same way other assets do."
Labour are promising to build 1.5M homes in the next 5 years.
Housing journalist
@Victoria_Spratt
explains why this increased supply won't make homes any cheaper.
@maitlis
|
@jonsopel
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This is a great thread on one of the most underexposed elements of the UK’s housing crisis.
Why is there a repairs crisis on the estate when there is a vast surplus being made?
This will be a story playing out in estates across the UK
Figures obtained under the FOI Act suggest the council has likely made a surplus of over £3 million from our estate over the last 10 years - around 50% of the income from rent and service charge.
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Totally normal local democracy in action…
EXCLUSIVE: The Greenwich planning chair who approved the 36-storey Morden Wharf development with his casting vote has now joined a firm working on the project
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The idea that people on low incomes shouldn’t have any leisure time/ enjoyment is ingrained in UK public policy across the political spectrum and civil society.
Bertrand Russell: “The idea that the poor should have leisure has always been shocking to the rich”:
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Lol I do find it funny how property developers are essentially portrayed as spitfire pilots in the housing crisis discourse by YIMBYs 😂
Berkeley is one of the developers Labour says can fix the housing crisis.
Its properties go for £650k+, 15x the average London salary.
In 2018, Berkeley was found to have reduced social/ affordable housing quotas in 93% of London developments.
These are not the homes we need.
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Some of the absolute mugs on here are trying to gaslight people into thinking they’re the cause of the housing crisis.
Communal green space is so important to health and well-being. Keep fighting for it.
We are a small estate surrounded by ongoing demolitions & proposed developments. We're not Nimbys by trying to save a small garden where we can relax & children play, not big enough for properly spaced new housing. Estate people have the same right to space & green as anyone else
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The destruction of the Elephant Shopping Centre epitomises the attitude that underpins “regeneration” and the perception of place in London.
So many seem to think that if a space isn’t catering for affluent people, then it isn’t being used at all. It’s shameful.
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Really solid article here. Over 100 ‘estates’ are at threat of demolition across London.
It’s regressive, pernicious and a downright catastrophe for communities and the environment.
It’s also being pushed through by cowards who will never have to feel the effects of it.
For decades, tearing down and “regenerating” council estates has been the norm – but with the climate and housing market in crisis, campaigners are questioning the costs for people and the planet
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We need to normalise naming and shaming landlords that flout the law and get away with it.
Local papers etc. should run weekly items that document this stuff. I’m sure it would get clicks!
Tbh it’s the only thing we can do under the current legal framework.
Labour MP Jas Athwal has defended himself as a "renters champion" despite flats he rents out reportedly being found with black mould and "ants everywhere."
🔗 Read more
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Zero social rent homes. Shoddy quality build. Zero thought given to the livability of the place.
It’s emblematic of everything wrong with London’s housing crisis.
The marketing blurb even has the cheek to talk about community wealth building principles.
What a shambles!
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Listening to posh kids from across the political spectrum moan about the planning system without really understanding what they are saying is getting tedious!
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In the run up to the election, there have been some bold claims being made about housing delivery in Lewisham…
✅ Misleading the public
✅ Breaking 2018 manifesto pledges
✅ Conflating v different tenures
✅ Failing to deliver
Read much more 👇
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We’ve been saying it for years. It’s just a tick box exercise to give the illusion that the demolition of estates is a democratic process.
The whole exercise is a farce.
Local authorities are ‘buying’ yes votes to estate demolition with uncapped public funds. Residents/campaigners have zilch!
It wouldn’t be allowed in a referendum or election, so
@tomcopley
@MayorofLondon
why is it allowed in estate ballots?
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After years of managed decline, the plans are to demolish it and replace it with majority market rent housing and other dubious tenures. ZERO new social rent homes.
Why are they doing this? So
@PaulBell1971
and
@damienegan
can put a hard hat on and pose next to some balloons.
Achilles Street area in Lewisham - one of more than 100 London council and housing association estates under threat of demolition.
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Estate demolition is ideologically motivated. There’s no question about it. It’s the only explanation given the huge environmental and social damage it causes.
The shot-callers who want to get rid of them view the communities that live on estates as dispensable collateral.
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Tbf to the YIMBYs they have executed a concerted public affairs campaign backed up by a strong social media/PR game…
It probably helps when you have vested interests backing you up. Now the incoming Govt has essentially signed up to the dogma…
Few thoughts..
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Do council cabinet members have to demonstrate their suitability/qualifications for a post?
They seem to get massive briefs with zero relevant experience… I’ve seen several Lewisham Cllrs unable to tell the difference between different ‘affordable’ rent tenures…
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Yep! Housing Associations and ALMOs face no consequences at all for the appalling conditions they subject their tenants to.
The regulatory system for social housing isn’t fit for purpose. Until we see genuine accountability, nothing will change.
For the second time of reporting Clarion Housing Association to the ‘Regulators for Social Housing’ tonight they have cleared them again even with my evidence provided.
They’ll receive no sanctions for what they’ve put their tenants through. Do you see the problem here?
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Will we ever see a house through time style doc for our council estates?
Nope. Why? Because the powers that be are intent on demolishing them. The experiences and stories of those that live in them are seen as worthless.
They are a vital part of our cultural and social history.
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If you’re have institutional power and your solutions to the housing crisis are…
1. Demolish council estates
2. Build on communal green spaces
…then you need to JOG ON and make way. The political class in local gov that are calling the shots are utterly inadequate.
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You have to remember that the people that push for estate demolition under the guise of regeneration really do hate the very existence of council estates in Inner London areas.
No doubt most of them grew up outside of London. They see estates as essentially squatting…
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Housing is a huger barrier to participation in local politics. The transience of renting prevents a lot of people becoming actively involved in community issues.
It also means more affluent demographics are overrepresented - resulting in their interests being catered for.
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This really is a great piece on Catford. The attitude of Lewisham’s politicians towards it is indicative of a wider trend of social cleansing in SE London.
If a place doesn’t solely cater to middle class professionals, then there’s “nothing there”.
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It’s just a tool to rid the council of any responsibility for helping people.
They will offer someone from South London a flat in Newcastle and if they refuse it they are making themselves “intentionally homeless”. It’s a scandalous practice.
Firstly, the term used by councils of ‘Intentionally Homeless’ shouldn’t exist.
No one wakes up in the morning and decided ‘you know what, I’m gonna MAKE myself homeless’. The councils use it as a bullying tactic towards vulnerable and desperate people.
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This is a brilliant thread. Any housing journos/writers that want a ready made story then look no further than the 🧵 👇
This kind of information has been sorely missing from the of coverage on estate demolition and disrepair issues in social housing.
Someone get a hold of it!
THREAD of council estates that were told there wasn’t enough money for repairs… only for residents to later discover their rent & service charge money actually generated a surplus 🤑🧵
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There is nothing inevitable about this. It’s obvious that this situation is the result of decades of neglect.
Social housing tenants are paying the price as Lewisham Council seeks to gentrify Catford.
🚨URGENT: Several residents of Milford Towers in Catford have woken up today to find their homes completely flooded.
We are calling on
@lewishamhomes
and
@NHGhousing
to start fixing the flooding and make all necessary repairs at Milford Towers NOW!
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Anyone who says you have to be in the Labour Party to make any meaningful difference is talking rubbish.
Being unaffiliated means you can call out the BS when you see it. So many Labour people have kept quiet on the violent displacement of working class people in Inner London.
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Feel like this needs saying:
People that don’t own property on leafy Victorian streets also have the right to be involved in local decision making…
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Levelling Up is… checks notes… a rooftop bar on top of Lewisham Library 🥴
Who are we trying to level up with? Peckham?
Why not invest in youth services which have been utterly decimated in the borough.
Lewisham Library will get a rooftop bar after the council was awarded £19 million in levelling up funding.
Lewisham Market and the Grade-II listed Lewisham Clock Tower will also get a facelift with the money.
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You just have to take one a look at this bunch to know that they have our best interests at heart. They defo want to see a large reduction in rents/house prices.
Not all heroes wear capes!
Some gushing quotes supporting Labour announcement on housebuilding from
- Rob Perrins at Berkeley Homes (profits £697m)
- Mark Allan, Landsec (profits £875m)
- Helen Gordon, Grainger (£3.3bn operational portfolio of private rented homes)
Bless
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715k for a three bed flat… Also built in public land gifted to developers.
Don’t sweat it though, once the laws of supply and demand kick in - everything will be cushty 😇
A look around Lewisham Gateway as it approaches completion.
A few photos from various angles. 649 homes, shops, cinema perhaps one day and more. Decent through route from station to town centre but some horror show buildings sadly.
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Estate demolition is pernicious, unnecessary, and driven by greed.
It’s a hugely damaging practice. Anyone that supports it needs to take a long hard look at themselves.
Calverley Close estate in Bromley - one of more than 100 London council and housing association estates under threat of demolition.
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The idea that “planning reform” is going to unlock wealth creation really is fantasy economics.
There’s a web of legal frameworks and vested interests that are committed to maintaining the status quo.
Relying on the private sector to deliver infrastructure is pie in the sky too
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Incoming Govt. are ideologically wedded to the kind of housing policy most of us have been campaigning against. What I expect to see:
- More estate demolition
- Public land given away on the cheap
- Developers ducking out of infrastructure obligations
- Shoddy standards
…
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Why are we still pursuing estate demolition? It’s utter madness.
If you’re not calling it out for what it is, you can’t can’t be waxing lyrical about climate change or social justice. Sorry!
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THE BIG HOUSEBUILDERS WANT TO KEEP HOUSE PRICES HIGH!! 🤯
The idea that planning reform will send them into a building frenzy that will put downward pressure on house prices and rents is for the birds.
Lots of people on the left have had their wallets inspected on this stuff.
Rachel Reeves explains that the public finances are in a mess so Labours plan is to rely on the private sector to build houses, invest in infrastructure etc.
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What’s wrong with wanting to settle down in the area you grew up in?
I know so many people rooted in SE London that want to stick around.
Why can’t they? Decades of failed policy that favours the interests of developers over them, aided and abetted by local councils…
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Demolition of housing estates, cosying up to developers, gaslighting social housing tenants, managed decline of estates, neglecting repairs, misleading the public, smearing residents that oppose bonkers regen schemes, building over estate green spaces.
That’s where Labour are.
Where is Labour on housing? The lack of visibility given to the brief is shocking. Out of control house prices, poor quality accommodation, predatory landlords, lack of insulation during an energy crisis – there's a lot to unite the electorate around!
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Yep, that's right. Campaigners are in court fighting a LABOUR-RUN council to make sure social rented houses are included in a massive development in the Elephant Shopping Centre development.
Sending solidarity 👊👊
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Interesting to see a lot of
#labourdoorstep
photos taken outside blocks of council flats. No mentions of the the party’s record on demolishing and neglecting council housing in communities across the Uk.
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As far as I’ve heard there have been zero ramifications for the horrors exposed by this reporting. Anyone know otherwise?
Something is truly broken if councils and housing associations can treat tenants like this and face no consequences.
The man struggling to breathe in a council flat 'unfit to house humans' and a leak running down his walls, found to be contaminated with faeces.
A new ITV documentary, Surviving Squalor: Britain's Housing Shame, tells his story.
More:
#SurvivingSqualor
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I’ve got one I’d be happy to give them…
Just found more bricks missing from new
#AylesburyEstate
council homes.
Are these deliberate too
@steviecryan
?
Or is this just more poor workmanship?
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This is horrible… Why are there never ANY consequences for this? Managed decline is such a violent practice.
Shame on Lewisham Council. This tells you all you need to know about its housing policy.
#FutureLewisham
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Short 🧵
An important yet depressing article from
@robjfirth
on what's happening in Achilles Street, New Cross.
It should serve as a warning to anyone taking part in a demolition ballot and be a wake up call to those that champion them.
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I’m very disappointed
#Lewisham
council spent £30k+ on a PR company that was employed solely to convince residents to vote for the demolition of their homes and local businesses in the Achilles area.
I guess this rank hypocrisy is ok when you have no political accountability.
Thank you to all staff at St Mungo’s, some of whom I met this morning working on No Second Night Out. I am very disappointed that St Mungo’s are using a PR company for industrial relations though. Best to negotiate with trade unions than spin against them
@unitetheunion
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Looking at the state of some of the new/newish builds close to the lines on the train in to London Bridge…
Even to the untrained eye it’s clear they’re going to have massive issues in the next 10 years. Water ingress very visible.
God help the people that paid huge
££ for them
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What makes this even more laughable is that councils across London are trying to demolish housing estates that have stood the test of time.
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I will always admire the political courageousness of the Cllrs that condemn other people’s homes to be demolished and for communal green space to be built on.
It takes real guts to make ‘tough choices’ that will have zero material impact on you or your mates.
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It was a pleasure to speak to
@Ffranciscodgf
for this piece. I grew up on Achilles St and lived there for the best part of 25yrs.
I saw the demolition ballot played out in real time. The guidelines are unequivocally flawed and skewed towards councils.
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I spent so many happy hours in that pool when I was a nipper. Also learnt to swim there.
There’s no way that kids would get the same experience with a pool designed for lane swimming.
The leisure pool needs to reopen.
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Lol the absolute state of people thinking planning reform is going to do anything to solve the housing crisis…
You don’t have to be an investigative journalist to realise that the whole thing is about creating a better legislative environment for property developers.
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In one year this guy has done more for social housing tenants than all the MPs, councillors, and housing association staff have done in decades. 👏👏
🚨 UPDATE:
The tweet below has now been seen
1 Million+ times in under 24h
- I’ve been in contact with the tenants MP
-I emailed the CEO stressing I wanted the family rehoused
👉🏽It has been confirmed an hour later by the CEO of L&Q the family will now be permanently rehoused
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Psssst. If built, these are going to be sold/rented to the very upper end of the market and won’t do anything for the people that are struggling to afford to live in Peckham.
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After decades of demonisation of people that live on estates, are we surprised that there is such a visceral backlash at them standing up for themselves?
How dare they have the temerity to oppose their children’s playgrounds being built over 🙃
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Hmm if people can’t afford the rent, should we really still be calling it affordable 🤔 🥴
“Affordable homes are harder to let, as fewer applicants can afford the tenancy when doing affordability checks. In some cases we have found no suitable applicants, as the rent is just too high.” END AFFORDABLE RENT
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It is pretty mad when you think about it. Affluent London residents occupy far more space than estate residents. I don't see any calls 'densification' in rich areas.
Yet I see people on here getting irate because people on estates want their kids to have a playground 🙃
@daviduw92
Council residents already live in one of the denser forms of housing.
But they're the ones who are expected to give up their homes for the greater good..
Often, as at Heygate, without any reasonable attempt at rehousing or compensation..
Seems fair 🤷♂️
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Great piece by
@robjfirth
here 👍
Lewisham Lab were making big claims about housing delivery in the run up to local elections.
The truth is they were using smoke and mirror tactics by deliberately conflating tenures and counting homes yet to be built.
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Spot on!
Labour has no intention of solving the housing crisis in London.
The strategy is driven by people who will never have to deal with any of the material consequences of their decisions. It’s a PR driven tactic to appeal to a base that is also insulated.
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Of course this would be possible at a systems level if there was the will to do so.
Estate demolition programmes aren’t rationale. They are deeply political, unnecessary and pernicious.
This is great regeneration
Three 1960’s tower blocks retrofitted to Passivhaus standard.
One resident even claims he hasn’t had to put the heating on in two years!!!
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THREAD:
The Save Latin Village campaigners have shown that victory over the greed of developers is possible ✊
But at what cost? These people have spent 17 years fighting for their livelihoods and protecting their community.
That’s 17 years of…
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The whole YIMBY/NIMBY framing is confected anyway. We should really stop using it.
You don’t need to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out who benefits from the oversimplification of housing economics 🧐
Psst. It’s not the people at the sharp end of the housing crisis!
This week’s newsletter
@theipaper
- why the divisive Yimby/Nimby “debate” is unhelpful featuring exclusive research from
@SMFthinktank
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In Lewisham's housing pipeline a whopping 62 of 11,137 homes of homes are "social rent". This is 0.6%.
The GLA class London Affordable Rent as social rent so who knows the real figure. This represents a total failure in strategic planning.
p122
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So Lewisham Council have provided land and £14m of public money to a property developer for the Lewisham Gateway development.
No social rent homes by the looks of it. Note the “co-living” homes. That’s a new one to me… Why the hell are we subsidising this?
#futurelewisham
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Good article challenging the cult like obsession with demolition in local gov.
The economic and environmental benefits of enhancing of existing buildings are huge.
I’m highly dubious of the people who dismiss this. Who’s paying you?
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These are the people that are going to lift us out of the housing crisis… 🤔
Definitely seem like the kind of people that have the public’s interest at heart and are motivated by a desire for housing to be more affordable.
❌ "The owners of nine housebuilding companies have pocketed more money than their firms have paid to fix the cladding crisis"
🚨 "Only 8 per cent of blocks with known or estimated fire risks have been fixed."
#BuildingSafetyCrisis
#GE24
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Finally got around to reading this. It really is an excellent piece 👏
I think the inherent contradictions of YIMBYism will be exposed.
Starmer’s Lab is a reactionary project and therefore devoid of an ideological platform for Govt.
YIMBYIsm is useful in the sense
Labour's plans to deregulate planning processes will further open up Britain to the property developers who have already caused so much damage to the country — and do little to help those at the sharp end of the housing crisis.
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Still yet to see a justification for this beyond some nonsense about trickle down. Giving away public land for these kinds of developments and then subsidising them with more public £ is criminal.
“Buy building for the upper end of the market, homes will get cheaper overall 🙃”
"Investigations into how Manchester’s rental market has changed have found that the average price of a two-bedroom flat is now £1,433 per month — and this has been driven up by building new ‘top-end’ apartment complexes." MCC Report.
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Yep 💯 This tweet is so spot on.
I'd even go a step further, most of the Labour councillors I've come across don't really seem to believe in mass council housing as a model. They see council housing as a kind of charity for the "deserving poor".
Labour councillors often say there's little they can do to increase council housing without a Labour government. The last Labour government did not reverse Right to Buy & led a vast transfer of council housing to Housing Associations, now barely distinguishable from developers.
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The disgust I feel for the
@PeabodyLDN
development on the site of my old school is visceral.
I know very few people that went to Deptford Green that would be able to afford to live there. They even try and marketise the cultural capital created by low income artists.
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The solution:
- Supply-side reforms to planning that will incentivise building at such a rate that it will put downward pressure on prices to the extent housing becomes ‘affordable’.
A surface level understanding of the housing crisis in the UK will tell you this is batshit.
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The political economy of land/housing in the UK is a set of mechanisms that bake in perpetually increasing prices.
‘Planning reforms’ being touted will tilt the legislative landscape even further in favour of developers.
You don’t need to be an economist to understand that…
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I believe this has been under threat of demolition since 2008. Think about the residents living with that. Look at how the council have neglected it.
They’ve already built over the gardens. Demolishing these homes is just vindictive.
Reginald House/Tidemill Gardens in Lewisham - one of more than 100 London council and housing association estates under threat of demolition.
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“Don't be fooled by the rocks that I got. I'm still, I'm still Wezy from the block. Used to have a little, now I have a lot.”
Last time I checked, council estates weren’t made out of corrugated iron. He chose to portray them like that for his chums at the Times. Prat.
There's something jarring about this language. Council housing isn't something you have to escape from.
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End buy-to-let. It’s parasitic.
📈 Investors have bought almost 43,000 homes so far this year, tempted back to the market by surging tenant demand and soaring rents
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How tf did renewable energy and housing supply get lumped in the same conversation…
A green and just transition is contingent on… *checks notes*… Taylor Wimpey getting more planning consents to sit on.
Absolute state of it 🥴
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Demolishing estates, building on people’s roofs, concreting over green space, neglecting repairs, managed decline, and taking away playgrounds…
All thanks to a spineless local political class who are materially insulated from the housing crisis but will gladly do unto others.
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Estate demolition is driven by greed and a visceral contempt for the people that live on them.
It’s capitalist/classist ideology in action.
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