Residents Left in Lurch as Council Abruptly Cancels New Council Homes

Last week construction was brought to a standstill after the council suddenly realised the proposal would not meet fire safety regulations brought in by the mayor in February, despite residents already being disrupted by the demolition of garages and chalet homes and the destruction of the Garden on the estate.
 
The Tenants' Management Organisation (TMO) for the estate had been fully in favour of the development and were acting as a partner on the development, as it would have delivered affordable housing and estate improvements.
 
The development was to be delivered by Southwark’s housing construction arm as part of its flagship drive to deliver its infamous 11,000 council homes pledge – but whether this can be realised has repeatedly been drawn into question due to concerns about finance.
 
This comes after now departed Housing Director Michael Scorer admitted in a Parliamentary Select Committee that Southwark did not have the funds to deliver on its targets.
 
In a shocking admission, the Council sent a statement to the TMO’s AGM on Thursday evening explaining that financial pressures would mean that it would be difficult to get the development up and running again, with delays possibly taking years if at all. This is the first time a senior Labour figure has admitted this.
 
The TMO’s management committee were only informed by the Cabinet Member earlier this week.
 
Local Councillor and Liberal Democrat Leader of the Opposition Cllr Victor Chamberlain said:
 
“The council has known since February that the design was no longer compliant with building safety regulations, it's completely unacceptable that it took so long to communicate with residents, the TMO and councillors about this, and this sudden decision has left residents reeling with uncertainty. There is a total lack of faith in council.
 
Labour's approach pushes new council homes on the site back to square one. They're not committing to work with residents, the local community and existing architects to discuss potential alternative designs which would be in keeping with new building regulations and would ensure new council homes and improvements could still be delivered. We need certainty and decisions rather than this dithering and bureaucracy that is typical of Labour's approach to planning.
 
This whole farce is indicative of a total failure to be engage with residents and be upfront and honest. Instead they’re steamrolling over communities, leaving them in the lurch with no certainty of what the future holds. It’s no wonder Labour’s house building is in disarray.” 

• Original proposal from 2020 here
• The development is too narrow to fit in the second staircase now required by both the London Mayor (all new planning applications over 30m since February 2023) and new national legislation (buildings over 18m, announced in July 2023).
• The rules ostensibly apply only to new planning applications, but the styles house development was approved in 2021. The council was initially advised that it could continue the development in light of this, but a planning officer ordered a pause in September.