This is part of the unfair and inaccurate denigration of council estates and other forms of social housing as blocks of self-perpetuating want. At the same time, London has a chronic housing shortage, especially of the types of homes Londoners on low and middle incomes can afford. Mindful that many of the larger Inner London estates have already been made over in some way, the researchers, who include distinguished social housing policy practitioner Pete Redman, analysed large estates in four boroughs: Lewisham, Barking and Dagenham, Hounslow and Waltham Forest. That leaves the vital issue of how densification, especially if it involves a lot of demolition, can be undertaken with the support of estate residents. Later this autumn the mayor himself will publish his own best practice guide to how estate regeneration should be conducted.

Source: The Guardian October 10, 2016 12:58 UTC