Table Of Content“A real tour de force. Essential reading for anyone interested in E
understanding the links between housing, class inequality and s Estate Regeneration
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working-class disadvantage.” a
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Tracy Shildrick, Newcastle University e
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“Paul Watt is one of our most dedicated academic analysts of the
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housing regeneration schemes that are so central to today’s London, g and Its Discontents
and his commitment and expertise are fully on evidence here. This e
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is a substantial contribution to the debate over what kind of capital
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we want.” r
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Aditya Chakrabortty, The Guardian t
io Public Housing, Place and
“An outstanding and lucid sociological analysis of the changes wrought n
on London’s public housing communities. Paul Watt not only unearths a
the realities of housing regeneration but also advances a compelling n Inequality in London
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critique of government policy making.”
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Keith Jacobs, University of Tasmania t
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“This brilliantly researched and passionately written book will be D
passed through generations as a cautionary tale of how public housing is
and its contribution to London’s working-class lives was destroyed by c
o Paul Watt
venal politicians on behalf of the real-estate lobby.” n
Stuart Hodkinson, University of Leeds t
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t
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Public housing estates are disappearing from London’s skyline in the name of
regeneration, while new mixed-tenure developments are arising in their place. P
This richly illustrated book provides a vivid interdisciplinary account of the a
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controversial urban policy of demolition and rebuilding amid London’s housing
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crisis and the polarisation between the city’s have-nots and have-lots. W
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Drawing on extensive fieldwork and interviews with over 180 residents living in t
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some of the capital’s most deprived areas, Watt shows the dramatic ways that
estate regeneration is reshaping London, fuelling socio-spatial inequalities via
state-led gentrification. Foregrounding resident experiences and perspectives
both before and during regeneration, he examines class, place belonging, home
and neighbourhood, and argues that the endless regeneration process results
in degeneration, displacement and fragmented communities.
Paul Watt is Professor of Urban Studies at Birkbeck, University of London.
ISBN 978-1-4473-2919-0
@@polipcyoprleiscsypress PolicyPress 9 781447 329190
policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk
“A monumental and humane book that puts people, places and
communities at the heart of its indictment of estate regeneration
in London.”
Andrew Wallace, University of Leeds
“Paul Watt is a leading analyst of housing policy and politics. He
draws on this experience to make sense of a pervasive and troubling
housing policy that is reshaping urban space and urban lives in
London and beyond.”
David Madden, London School of Economics
ESTATE REGENERATION AND
ITS DISCONTENTS
Public Housing, Place and Inequality
in London
Paul Watt
First published in Great Britain in 2021 by
Policy Press, an imprint of
Bristol University Press
University of Bristol
1- 9 Old Park Hill
Bristol
BS2 8BB
UK
t: +44 (0)117 954 5940
e: bup- [email protected]
Details of international sales and distribution partners are available at
policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk
© Bristol University Press 2021
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-4473-2918-3 hardcover
ISBN 978-1-4473-2919-0 paperback
ISBN 978-1-4473-2921-3 ePDF
ISBN 978-1-4473-2922-0 ePub
The right of Paul Watt to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in
accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved: no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
or otherwise without the prior permission of Bristol University Press.
Every reasonable effort has been made to obtain permission to reproduce copyrighted
material. If, however, anyone knows of an oversight, please contact the publisher.
The statements and opinions contained within this publication are solely those of the author
and not of the University of Bristol or Bristol University Press. The University of Bristol and
Bristol University Press disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting
from any material published in this publication.
Bristol University Press and Policy Press work to counter discrimination on
grounds of gender, race, disability, age and sexuality.
Cover design: Clifford Hayes
Front cover image: Paul Watt, Woodberry Down estate, London
Borough of Hackney, 2018
Bristol University Press and Policy Press use environmentally
responsible print partners.
Printed and bound in Great Britain by CMP, Poole
This book is dedicated to the memory of my mum and
dad – Miralda and Charles Watt – who were able to
access public housing when they needed it
Contents
List of figures, tables and photographs viii
List of abbreviations xi
Acknowledgements xiii
1 Introduction 1
PART I Policy analysis and research context
2 Housing policy: the rise and fall of public housing 35
3 Urban policy: estate regeneration 63
4 The research boroughs and their estates 89
PART II Estates before regeneration
5 Marginalisation and inclusion 127
6 Valued places 155
7 Devalued places 189
PART III Living through regeneration
8 Beginnings 223
9 Degeneration 263
10 Displacement 303
11 Resistance 341
12 Aftermaths 367
13 Conclusion 413
Appendix A: Methodology 437
Appendix B: Profile of interviewees 443
Notes 453
References 459
Index 491
vii
List of figures, tables and
photographs
Figures
2.1 Households renting from local authority by London 42
borough, 1981
2.2 Annual sales of council properties by the Greater London 46
Council, 1967– 79
2.3 Housebuilding in London, 1980– 2017 51
2.4 Annual Right to Buy sales in London and England, 1980– 2017 53
2.5 Right to Buy sales by London borough, 1980– 2017 54
2.6 Local authority non- decent dwellings in London and 59
England, 2001/ 02– 2009/ 10
3.1 Local authorities in England with 12 or more deprived 68
estates, 1991
3.2 Change in housing tenure at 50 demolished social housing 85
estates in London (2004– 14), and at two early (CEI and
Peckham SRB) and two contemporary (Woodberry Down
and Heygate) regeneration schemes in Hackney and
Southwark
4.1 Map of London research boroughs 90
4.2 Housing tenure in main research boroughs, 1981 and 2011 92
4.3 Local authority housing stock in main research 93
boroughs, 2018
4.4 West Hendon estate – original and proposed housing tenure 103
7.1 Northwold estate – residents’ dissatisfaction, 2017 195
8.1 Canning Town South ward, Newham – local election 231
results, 1998– 2010
Tables
2.1 Housing tenure in London (households), 1961– 2011 40
4.1 Rank of main research boroughs in 1998 Index of
Local Deprivation (ILD) and 2015 Index of Multiple 91
Deprivation (IMD)
4.2 Profile of main research estates 94
4.3 Carpenters estate – housing tenure and empty 98
properties, 2005– 18
viii
List of figures, tables and photographs
4.4 Profile of estate interviewees by main housing tenures 122
5.1 Elderly, lone-parent households, economic activity and 130
NS- SEC by housing tenure, London, 2011
8.1 Estate demolition: typical rehousing offers and likely 252
housing outcomes by tenure
Photographs
Source and copyright: Paul Watt
1.1 Carpenters estate, 2014 6
2.1 Boundary estate, 2013 37
4.1 Carpenters estate, 2012 97
4.2 Canning Town and Custom House, 2013 99
4.3 West Hendon estate, 2014 102
4.4 West Hendon estate, 2019 104
4.5 Woodberry Down estate, 2018 106
4.6 Northumberland Park estate, 2016 109
4.7 Clapham Park estate (west), 2016 110
4.8 Cressingham Gardens estate, 2013 113
4.9 Central Hill estate, 2015 114
4.10 Heygate estate, 2014 116
4.11 Aylesbury estate, 2015 116
4.12 East Dulwich estate, 2014 117
6.1 Ocean estate, 2016 159
6.2 West Hendon estate, 2016 166
6.3 Woodberry Down estate, 2017 169
6.4 Northumberland Park estate, 2016 170
6.5 Northwold estate, 2017 172
7.1 Northumberland Park estate, 2017 202
7.2 Northwold estate, 2017 208
8.1 Canning Town, 2014 230
8.2 Central Hill estate, 2019 240
8.3 Northumberland Park estate, 2016 259
9.1 Northumberland Park Decides meeting, 2017 264
9.2 Clapham Park estate (west), 2008 269
9.3 Clapham Park estate (west), 2016 273
9.4 West Hendon estate, 2014 274
9.5 Aylesbury estate, 2015 275
9.6 Canning Town, 2013 277
9.7 West Hendon estate, 2014 284
9.8 Heygate estate, 2012 288
ix
