Refurbish don't Demolish on Alton Estate

In the run up to the fifth anniversary of the Grenfell fire, residents of the Alton Estate in Wandsworth held a poignant remembrance ceremony, lighting up their estate in green. The tragedy of Grenfell still looms large in every discussion about social housing. One of the most horrific, yet banal, revelations to emerge about how or why it ever happened, was that the inhabitants of Grenfell tower may have been wrapped in deadly combustible materials simply because their building loomed large in an affluent area of London. The council wanted it clad because they wanted to improve its appearance for the residents of the surrounding conservation areas.

Taking in the view of the Alton Estate from the comfortable gastro pub on Roehampton Lane, surrounded by the picturesque multi-million pound period homes of Roehampton village, it’s not hard to see parallels with the motivations behind Wandsworth council’s 18 year quest to ‘improve’ or remove the brutalist concrete buildings opposite. 

But could it really be the case that hundreds of families are going to be uprooted; that structurally sound buildings will be demolished; that hundreds of affordable homes and small businesses will be replaced with unaffordable private investment properties and big name retailers; simply to improve the view from the other side of the tracks? 

Maybe the fact that the Alton estate is situated on prime real estate on the edge of Richmond Park might have also made these unfortunate residents particularly susceptible to the vulture gaze of council officials and their private sector development partners. Councils have binding government quotas for how many housing developments they must permit, so it may have seemed like a win-win to council officials to promote a development that also replaces what they consider ugly social housing rather than impinge on leafier suburbs. The council’s plan involves demolishing almost 300 low-rise council properties and replacing them with 1100 flats predominantly for private sale which will allow developers to fully exploit the rich profit potential of this land.

The demolition and rebuilding on the Alton estate is not of course billed as an exercise in profiteering or gentrification but as ‘regeneration’. A local community group, widely respected for its work with young people, and by unfortunate accident called Regenerate, is rumoured to be considering a rebrand for fear of negative associations. Because the world of regeneration is a world of fake promises and ugly ideals that nobody of any integrity would want to be associated with. The notion of ‘regeneration’ - that social problems, poverty and inequality can be swept away by replacing old buildings with new - is so blatantly a euphemism for sweeping away the people who live in those buildings, that the term is now synonymous with ‘social cleansing’.

The big question for residents is whether the newly elected Labour Council will also disassociate itself from the anti-working class and anti-council housing agenda of their Tory predecessors’ regeneration plans. There are many alternatives on offer to them.

In conjunction with a team from UCL, local residents spent nearly 2 years from 2020 developing an alternative community plan which, instead of demolishing housing, would involve refurbishing blocks to a high environmental standard, replacing lost community facilities, and building some new ‘infill’ housing without dramatically increasing the height or density of the estate.

“Our People’s Plan takes a different approach to regeneration – one that is democratic, with social justice and environmental sustainability at its core. We are confident that it is a viable alternative which would provide better housing, social and environmental outcomes for the community, would respect the heritage of the estate and would be more cost effective” said Angus Robertson of the Alton Action campaign group.

There is no evidence that there has ever been structural problems identified in the buildings slated for demolition. Current residents in those blocks are plagued by mould, damp, leaks and neglected repairs, but this seems entirely down to a deliberate choice by the council because identical blocks in other parts of the estate are clearly very well maintained. Residents we spoke to shared the same familiar story of people on every estate once the demolition bell has tolled - they are tired of living in limbo, not knowing whether to get a new carpet or repaint because they could be moved out at any time. They enjoy living in the estate, large parts of which are grade 2 listed because of its well thought out design and high quality construction, and would be happy to stay, but only if it is properly maintained.

It’s difficult to see how there could ever be any kind of fair ballot of residents about demolition plans, if you take into account this effect of years of managed decline and how it wears people down. The council have never seriously explored or costed any refurbishment options at all so the demolition ‘option’ has always been presented to residents as a fait accompli.

Since the regeneration process began in earnest in 2013, the council has spent £19 million, not including staff costs. The original developer, Redrow, who withdrew from the project in 2020, walked away with a handsome settlement but the council has just a net gain of 2 new council flats to show for their vast outlay. Used as show flats to entice support for the new scheme from existing council tenants, they are in a low rise block of 10 new flats, but they bear little resemblance to the rows of 9 storey blocks which the rest of the development will entail.

The cost of building materials are also increasing at a phenomenal rate right now, so if any new developer is found to finish the scheme they are likely to insist on further increasing the density of the development or reducing the number of council homes to safeguard their profit margins. ‘Viability’ clauses in developer contracts can often come as somewhat of a shock to residents, when long after they have finished their consultations and ballots, councils admit that their contracts always guarantee a minimum profit return for the developer and that absolutely everything else can be renegotiated, at any point during the project, to ensure the investors do not lose out. 

So the council must make a decision soon which will affect the lives of everyone in the estate. If they push ahead with finding a new developer to build the 9 storey buildings it will set a benchmark in the area that will inevitably put other low rise housing in the estate at risk. But the council’s decision will also have a much wider knock-on effect beyond the residents in the estate. 

After the disastrous experience of regeneration in places like the Heygate in Southwark, very few people can have any illusions in the promise of demolition and rebuild, other than for the multinational companies who have seen a huge return on their paltry investment. The much lauded new housing usually ends up as air b&bs or investment properties, far out of the reach of previous residents. If the council homes on the Alton estate are demolished then the next generation of working class families will be priced out of the area for good.

So too, in addition to the direct pollution effects for those who will be living in a building site for a decade, the environmental impact of demolition and rebuilding will exacerbate the climate crisis that threatens to engulf us all. As we race to reduce carbon emissions, how can anyone justify the wastefulness of knocking down structurally sound buildings for the sheer vanity of building something prettier, when the carbon cost of refurbishment is so much lower? Neither should we waste carbon emissions on luxury developments catering to speculative investors rather than local housing needs. The council could choose not just to adopt a more sustainable refurbishment option in Alton Estate, but could take this opportunity to provide a showcase for retrofitting technology, including insulation, heat pumps, solar panels etc and improving biodiversity, that could be the model for social housing nationally which we urgently need.

As we come out of the covid pandemic, when the very foundation of our society was revealed to be held up by resilient communities of essential key workers, maybe the fashion for denigrating working class housing estates is now a bit passe, and the council may find that there is not actually any great desire on the part of their wealthier neighbours to have Alton Estate residents driven out. In any case it is up to the new Labour council of Wandsworth to decide whether the lives and livelihoods of the communities who put them in power are worth defending and worth investing in. If they don’t, it’s clear that Alton estate residents will challenge them every step of the way.

Other estates under threat of demolition, such as in neighbouring Lambeth, do offer an example of tremendous resilience by residents who have been subject to extreme pressures but have held off the threat of demolition for many long years. When they visited Alton estate recently to offer their support, Central hill campaigners also came with a hopeful conviction that if residents here can convince the council to rethink their plans, then it could be a turning point for unpopular demolition schemes all across London. 

Follow the Alton Action campaign:

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And get in touch via [email protected]

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