The cover picture above is of what was the Heygate Estate in Elephant and Castle, South London. I live and work near by.
A veritable Marmite of a housing development it was both loved and hated. It was also the setting for attack the block apparently. For a much better analysis of the Heygate estate than I could offer please read Ian Steadman's article for the New Statesman.
I took this photo of one of the main buildings about a months ago from Elephant station platform... 1 I think. Two weeks later I was again on the platform and I noticed a distinct absence, the building had gone!
They are currently demolishing the Heygate Estate, an estate of flats owned and managed by Southwark Council. It is being replaced by a public - private partnership development with some "affordable housing" written into the contact. Southwark have been criticise for this re-development as many of the old tenants have been moved out of the area.
What ever the truth of the Heygate re-development the image struck me as a depiction of dramatic change in London's social housing. The move towards using PRS as a social housing solution in London is likely to be a dramatic change as well.
A final oddity, when they started knocking down the buildings a forest was revealed!
The intention of this blog is to examine the private rented sector in London and the UK as a solution to social housing demands. I am interested in practical, political and ethical issues surrounding housing. My hope is that my dissertation research and what I come across at work (as a floating support worker) will bring some interesting insights.
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