London is scattered with 20th century council housing estates. It is widely assumed that these estates, generally owned by local authorities, offer scope for redevelopment.
They also have an important role to play in meeting London’s housing needs. Yet we know surprisingly little about the range, location or other characteristics of these estates, and attempts to redevelop them keep running into controversy.
This project will take a new look at the role that London’s estates could play in addressing housing shortages. We will be undertaking research in Waltham Forest, Hounslow, Lewisham and Barking and Dagenham.
We will identify council housing trends in London, highlighting policy changes and case studies of significant estates in the Capital. We will also give a spatial assessment of the major council housing estates in four London boroughs, with estimations of the density levels that can be achieved, and look at different types of estate construction, such as redevelopment, infill, incremental stock growth.