Estate Renewal

More homes

By increasing density, estate renewal can build new additional social homes on the estate and be funded through the sale of other new homes on the estate.

The problem

Over 1.2 million people are stuck on ever-lengthening waiting lists for social housing, with many waiting over a decade for a safe and affordable place to live. Many more are ineligible to be on the list, or do not bother because they think they have no chance of a social home.

At the same time, hundreds of thousands of people are homeless, with thousands sleeping rough on the streets each night. The chronic shortage of social housing can be traced back to the dramatic reduction in housebuilding after the 1980s. Between 1947 and 1980, an average of over 120,000 social homes were built every year across the UK. Yet by 2022, that figure had fallen to under 8,000. With the sale of millions of social homes under right-to-buy schemes, the total number of social rented properties has halved over the past 40 years.

As a result, families in need of affordable housing face a bleak situation. The quality of existing social housing, while generally good, can fall far below the best that social landlords can offer. Over 500,000 social homes don’t meet basic health and safety standards.

At the same time, new social housing is barely being built to replace this ageing stock. Waiting lists continue to lengthen as those in need struggle to find an affordable home. Rising construction costs is making it difficult for councils to afford the price tag.

The solution

Estate renewal, at its core, means replacing ageing buildings with modern buildings, generally at higher densities.

Good schemes guarantee that every tenant will get a brand new home on the estate and will only have to move once, straight into their new home. This means that families formerly stuck in dark, damp, draughty and often overcrowded flats can enjoy homes up to modern standards with insulation, more space and balconies.

Twentieth century designs often used land inefficiently. So called ‘towers in the park’ were the highpoint of post-war utopian city planning, but left large amounts of land unused, integrated poorly with existing street layouts and left areas that felt unsafe for residents at night.

The South Kilburn Estate before and after renewal. Note the increased area

By comparison modern blocks can be built. Although they may not be as tall, by making better use of the  land they can contain more homes.

This is important for two reasons. First, it can mean that the council or housing association can deliver extra social homes, moving people off waiting lists and into a permanent home. In addition, some units can be sold to help pay for the scheme. At a time where budgets are stretched thin these sales fund social housing, whilst boosting overall housing supply.

Tenant ballots

Key to our vision for estate renewal are tenant ballots, first introduced by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.

Schemes should only go ahead where they have the backing of the current tenants. The success of resident ballots in London demonstrate that while renewal can be disruptive, residents support renewal because it can deliver better living conditions. Any plan that can’t get tenants on board is not a plan worth doing.

Under current rules, tenant ballots are only required on schemes applying for funding from the Greater London Authority. We want to see this expanded to all estate renewal schemes. 

But the Government should go further. A petition process should be opened up to allow residents to proactively request regeneration of their estate. This would shift dynamics towards resident-led change, giving ambitious councils the confidence to embark on projects with resident support.

Endorsements

Will Gardner, Executive Director of Development at Home Group
This is a national issue, not just a London or city-centred debate. Regeneration isn’t always about densification – it’s about replacing outdated homes with modern, energy-efficient housing that meets today’s needs. Without proper support, many of these homes risk being lost entirely, leading to a net reduction in housing stock. Enabling regeneration ensures communities thrive and delivers the homes people need across the country.

Jamie Ratcliff, housing expert and co-founder of Place Base
Despite popular narratives England has an absurdly low rate of demolition of homes. We have the oldest stock in western Europe and new homes have an implied lifetime of 5,000 years. To tackle the housing crises we will have to demolish more, including lower density and poorer quality social housing estates, and build many more new and high quality homes in their place.

Joe Marshall, Chief Investment and Development Director at Sovereign Network Group
Estate renewal can be a win‑win for everyone. By working closely with existing residents to help them shape their communities, we can deliver better, high‑quality homes for them while also unlocking many more affordable homes for future generations.

Sarah Maylor, Development Director, Curo Places and Enterprise
Estate renewal is part of the answer to two fundamental challenges facing our sector – where to build and how to improve quality. It’s rarely a straightforward journey though and impossible without a local mandate – the most successful programmes set out to build real consensus, before delivering a vision that residents are proud to call home.

Gavin Smart, Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing
Estate regeneration has the potential to make a significant contribution towards resolving our national housing challenges – both in terms of improving the quality of homes and places for existing residents and in making better use of space to build extra new homes to help meet housing need. The success of estate renewal depends on meaningful, ongoing involvement of residents throughout the process, and we believe that active government policy support could help facilitate estate regeneration leading to more and better homes and places.

Conor Nakkan, Senior Researcher, Intergenerational Foundation
Done properly, social housing estate regeneration can improve conditions for existing residents while increasing the supply of social housing for younger and future generations. Planning policy should do more to support high-quality estate renewal based on resident consent.

Olivia Harris, CEO of Dolphin Living
Plans are underway to rebuild Dolphin Living’s estates in Hackney and Ealing. Our plans include a commitment to existing residents for a new home on the rebuilt estate. These homes will have private outdoor space, deliver improved insulation, heating and ventilation, be accessible where required and so will provide residents with an improved lived experience in their home. All residents will have a Dolphin Living home throughout the redevelopment at a rent they can afford. In addition each redevelopment will more than double the number of homes on the estate. For these reasons Dolphin Living supports estate regeneration. Our experience of estate regeneration through planning has not always been easy and there is a need for planning policies that support estate regeneration and respond to the complexity and nuances of individual estates and communities. 

Alistair McIntosh, CEO of the Housing Quality Network
Too often tenants pay the price for living in poor quality social housing estates. We could build great new homes for the folk that live there and for new people too. But it’s vitally important to build – and keep – trust. We need to convince residents that they will get the promised new homes and facilities, and that they can afford the service charges. If they are able to trust in that light at the end of the tunnel, and get a genuine say over the regeneration of their homes, they will (and do) emphatically say yes to renewal despite the disruption to their lives.

Tony Stacy, former Chair of PlaceShapers
Estate regeneration offers a brilliant solution to building communities, providing new homes and – above all – involving existing communities in the planning process. Tenants association meetings can struggle with poor attendance sometimes, but when residents are offered a genuine say on the future of their neighbourhoods, it will be standing room only. Funding rules frequently make it almost impossible to bring grants into estate renewal, but you just need to visit successful schemes to appreciate what value added means in reality.

Alex Notay, CEO, The Housing Forum
Many of our members at the Housing Forum work on estate regeneration to shape places that better support their communities. Done well, it strengthens neighbourhoods by improving existing homes, enhancing shared spaces, and providing more high-quality housing so more residents can thrive.

Prof. Ken Gibb, Centre Director, UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence
CaCHE supports evidenced inclusive approaches to estate regeneration that protect the interests of existing tenants, and which encourage a mix of affordable new homes and investment to high standards of design.