It has just leaked out that the costs to Waltham Forest Council of its favoured option for the “improvement” of Fred Wigg & John Walsh Towers, at Wanstead Flats, Leytonstone, E11 4EP are set to increase up to five fold up to £39 million, whilst reducing the number of rented council homes in favour of privately owned apartments for the wealthy.
The Council’s favoured Option ‘Transformation’ would demolish all the 234 council homes within the two tower blocks. An alternative option, ‘Modest Improvement’ would cost the Council maybe a third of that.
Despite ballooning costs, on Friday last week a leading Councillor Clyde Loakes said the Council would still pick a design and a developer on 21st February. It is surprising the Council is rushing on with what is now by far the more expensive option despite not knowing what changes there will be to the Building Regulations post Grenfell. These changes will have implications for the types of structural design that are regarded as still safe.
The Council have refused tenants a ballot and not even said anything to tenants in public for 3 years. In an independent ballot run by the local Trades Council tenants voted 3:1 in favour of ‘Modest improvement’.
The Council’s ‘Transformation’ option would reduce the number of rented council homes. Most of the flats built under ‘Transformation’ would be for sale. The annual income required to buy them would be £60,000 to £100,000 which could not be afforded by more than 9 out of 10 of local non-owners.
The Council said ‘Modest improvement’ option would “…not have any positive benefits to the …neighbour- hood”. They said this, when comparing it to the option increasing owner-occupied homes by up to 120.
‘Transformation’ is so extravagant that the money saved by ‘Modest Improvement’ would allow the Council to have 200 more rented Council homes (than under ‘Transformation’). These extra 200 council rented homes would allow the Council to tackle its backlog of 2,300 homeless families in expensive temporary housing.
In a public meeting this evening Wednesday 31st January at the Epicentre Leytonstone tenants, local residents and community agencies are meeting to discuss what to do about the Council’s apparent ‘social cleansing’ agenda ignoring the views of people whose homes are being demolished and the wider social needs locally.
Sonia McKenzie, Chair of Fred Wigg & John Walsh Towers Tenants & Residents Association, said that “The Council is ignoring the ballooning costs even though ‘Modest improvement’, the option residents want, is now only a fraction the cost of the Council’s wasteful ‘Transformation’ option. Almost everyone locally will lose out. We are about to see our homes demolished unnecessarily. Only rich people will be able to buy these flats.”
