Kingsbridge estate
Homes under threat: 134
Landlord: One Housing Group
Ballot Status: Approved
Planning Status: Pending
Architect: Howarth Tompkins
Itla: Mike Tyrell
134 homes are under threat on the Kingsbridge estate in Tower Hamlets.
As a result of stock transfer in 2005, One Housing Group currently owns 2,027 former council homes across four estates on the Isle of Dogs.
In 2014 OHG produced a 52 page report - ‘Project Stone’ setting out proposals to replace all four of its Isle of Dogs estates in a joint venture with developer Argent:
- Barkantine estate - 769 homes.
- St John’s estate - 607 homes.
- Samuda estate - 517 homes.
- Kingsbridge estate - 134 homes.
Project Stone proposed just 30% of the redeveloped properties as affordable housing. Of these, 17% would have been shared ownership and 13% would have been affordable rented.
The plans met with organised opposition from residents on the four estates who had not been consulted and after the Mayor of Tower Hamlets intervened, OHG scrapped its masterplan and agreed that proposals would only be pursued after a 'conversation' with residents.
In May 2017, OHG applied to the Mayor in a bid for funding for the redevelopment of the Kingsbridge estate and has now started 'conversations' with residents in specific blocks of three of the four estates (Samuda estate excluded):
The Mayor has designated the Isle of Dogs as an 'opportunity area' and his planning framework for the area envisages 49,000 new homes some of which provided through the regeneration of existing housing estates:
In 2019, One Housing Group created a residents steering group on the Kingsbridge estate to consider different options for the possible regeneration of 134 homes in Michigan House, Montrose House and Montcalm House.
In December 2022, a ballot was held for residents to vote if the regeneration proposals to demolish the existing blocks and build new homes should go ahead. A turnout of 75.6% of eligible voters took part in the ballot, of which 85.4% voted ‘yes’ and 14.6% voted ‘no’.
Links:
Feb 2020 newsletter from One Housing - https://www.onehousing.co.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/17731/New-Mill-Newsletter-February-2020.pdf
One Housing Group's website - https://www.onehousing.co.uk/about-us/what-we-do/development-and-regeneration/isle-of-dogs
The 4 Estates Forum
Press article about the regeneration (poplarlondon.co.uk)
