It has been announced that 100 of the UK’s housing estates will be regenerated and made into safer, higher quality homes, with the aid of a £140 million fund. In some cases the buildings will be refurbished and have their layout, infrastructure and facilities improved, while others will be demolished and replaced completely, depending on their condition. The budget will also be spent on temporary rehousing for current occupants of the estates.

The aim of the project is to get rid of estates with layouts which encourage crime, such as long dark alleyways and high rise towers, and instead make them into places which feel safe and open, constructing low-rise blocks and terraced houses where people can live and work comfortably. The new estates will be more integrated with wider street networks to encourage a greater feeling of community, rather than the current sense of being “cut off” from the wider world.

A new Estate Regeneration Advisory Panel has been created to support the project. It is thought that this venture could create many thousands of new homes in London alone, removing the old sink estates and replacing them with more modern and appealing homes. There will be binding guarantees for tenants and homeowners to protect their right to a home.

As estate management specialists, we look to this new development with interest. It seems that the regeneration of rundown areas could be highly beneficial for many areas of London, as well as many other sites across the country. When we are managing a property it is always our priority to ensure that tenants feel safe, supported and happy with their homes, and creating high quality new homes or renovating old ones will hopefully contribute towards this for thousands of people across the country.