For more news about regeneration. see this attached Q&A from RBK
HOUSING ESTATE REGENERATION PROGRAMME: PHASE 1
CAMBRIDGE ROAD ESTATE (CRE)
FAQs April 2016
What is the Council doing?
The Council is assessing its existing larger housing estates to determine
whether they can provide a greater number of better quality homes and
infrastructure improvements. The programme is currently in an early feasibility
stage. The Council wants to ensure the estate regeneration programme delivers
the objectives (agreed by Residents, Health & Care Services Committee in June
2015) of the Council and its communities.
Why is the Council doing it?
Some of the Councilās housing stock needs to be improved. Whilst the Better
Homes programme is addressing some legacy issues it cannot address issues of
poor estate design. Kingstonās population is growing and more homes need to be
provided. An estate regeneration programme would help to meet this need,
providing new facilities as well as additional, better quality homes.
The Council will take the necessary time to develop robust proposals and will
work with local residents to deliver the right scheme. The programme will be
led by the Council with the community.
Which estates might be included?
Phase 1 of the estate regeneration programme focuses only on the Cambridge Road
Estate (CRE). Other estates to be considered in the future, once weāre
significantly more progressed with CRE, are Kingsnympton Park and Sheephouse
Way. Inclusion of others is under review.
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How will Phase 1 be delivered?
The programmeās preparatory work includes a feasibility study that will
investigate possible delivery options. These will assess methods by which the
Council might provide the new homes and facilities and how partners might be
procured. Any appointment of consultants, contractors or development partners
to help design, build or develop all or part of the programme will be
competitively tendered and in accordance with European regulations where
necessary.
How will residents and communities be involved?
It is essential that residents and communities are involved with the programme
as it develops so their views and preferences can be incorporated within the
proposals.
An engagement and communications strategy has been drafted with input from a
group of CRE residents. More extensive community engagement will take place
later in the year, in line with the initial feasibility work coming to a close.
At that point there will be regeneration options available for comment. In the
meantime we will continue to hold the monthly drop-in meetings.
The engagement process on CRE started in the autumn of 2015 with monthly
residentsā drop-in meetings and we will continue to hold these and regularly
distribute information and updates to residents. Additionally, a Residents
Steering Group is being established to help residents to be more closely
involved in the regeneration process. This group will become the Councilās
āfocus groupā for consultation and stakeholder engagement on the estate but
will not be a substitute for engagement with all residents involved in the
programme.
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Will the programme mean existing homes are demolished?
The feasibility work for Phase 1 is looking at options including demolition and
new build as well as the refurbishment of existing blocks. All options under
consideration will need to enable the provision of a significant number of
additional new homes. Residentsā views on the options will be sought through
the engagement process. At the heart of the programme will be an ambition to
create diverse, successful communities.
When will I know if the property I live in will be affected?
We hope to agree a preferred option with residents and other stakeholders by
the end of the year or very early next year after extensive engagement and
Committee approval. The options on which weāll engage will include details of
which properties and blocks might be kept, refurbished or demolished and
replaced, and the number and type of new homes and tenures which could be
provided (eg Council-rented, market sale, shared ownership, etc). Please note
the design process for the estate isnāt scheduled to start until early 2017
with the start of masterplanning work so the options at this stage wonāt
include estate layouts or block heights.
Will I have to move? Where will I be moved to during building work? How many
times will I have to move?
We will need to work closely with all residents and assess needs and location
of any replacement homes on a case by case basis. Through working with tenants
and other residents (such as leaseholders) the Council wants to explore options
that will enable existing residents who want to stay on the estates to remain
there post-regeneration, either in a refurbished property or a new home.
A Council ādecantā policy, covering rehousing during building work, is
currently being prepared and will be subject to Committee approval at the
September meeting. The Council will support all residents affected by the
scheme, especially those who are elderly or more vulnerable. We donāt yet know
who will need to move as this will depend on the preferred option. It 3
is hoped that residents who do need to move will only have to move once and
this is what the proposals will try to achieve. It is unlikely that anyone will
need to move for several years whilst we develop proposals.
Will I have a say in what option is chosen?
Yes. The possible options will be subject to an extensive programme of
engagement over the late summer and early autumn to ensure resident views are
considered in determining the preferred option.
The Council has now completed its Cambridge Road Estate engagement and
communications strategy with input from some residents. A timetable of events
will be prepared and will be shared with residents in due course.
What will the estate look like?
This stage is still some time away. As mentioned above the design process for
the estate isnāt scheduled to start until early 2017 with the start of
masterplanning work. When the design work does start the Council will work
closely with residents to ensure their views are reflected within the
proposals.
When will any work on my property start and finish?
This will depend on the preferred option and the phasing of the programme. At
the moment itās unlikely any work will start before early 2019 so we wouldnāt
expect that residents would have to move much before then. We wonāt be able to
confirm which residents might have to move until we have a preferred option, or
confirm dates until the masterplan and design is complete.
What is happening with the Better Homes programme on the estate?
Better Homes scheduling of works on the Cambridge Road Estate is currently
under review due to the pending regeneration programme
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developments. It is anticipated that a preferred option for the regeneration of
the estate and its necessary phasing will be approved by the end of this year
or very early next year following extensive resident and other stakeholder
engagement. Therefore no Better Homes works will take place in the estate once
the current works have finished and until we are clearer about which properties
and blocks should be kept, refurbished or redeveloped. In the meantime
maintenance works will continue to be undertaken.
Iām a Council tenant, will my rent go up?
We intend to keep or provide at least the same number of Council-rented
properties on the estate at Council (social) rents. The exact rent levels will
depend on the type of property and the same established method of rent
calculation as the Council currently uses. As we donāt yet have a scheme we are
not yet able to state what rents will be charged.
I see the Council has been successful in its Housing Zone bid to the Mayor of
London. What does this mean?
The Council bid to the Greater London Authority for a Housing Zone focused on
Cambridge Road Estate to try to secure funding to help achieve its aspirations,
including retaining and hopefully increasing the number of Council-owned
affordable homes on the estate. We had to make assumptions on what the scheme
might look like as part of the bidding process but have made it clear that
these are assumptions and that the scheme is still to be designed and developed
with its residents. The Housing Zone bid has now been approved and funding
earmarked, subject to more detailed work and legal agreements. This is great
news as the estate regeneration programme is reliant on external funding. We
have included later in this document the press release which gives more detail
on the bid and which was issued by the Council on 15 March 2016.
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What will happen next?
The Council has identified an initial budget and is now collating information
and undertaking the initial works for Phase 1 including site surveys and
options appraisals. Feasibility work is underway and the necessary engagement,
communication and housing management strategies are nearing completion.
Initial timescales ā Phase 1 (CRE) only
ALL SUBJECT TO SCHEME DEVELOPMENT, RESIDENT AND STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT AND
PHASING PLANS
Resident and community consultation starts ā 2015
Completion of initial feasibility work - summer 2016
Stakeholder and resident engagement on possible options - summer 2016
Agreed preferred option ā early 2017
Appointment of master planning design team ā spring 2017
Completion of masterplan ā spring 2018
Planning applications and permissions - 2018
Start on site ā 2019.
There is currently no work being undertaken on estates other than Phase 1 (CRE)
and Phase 1 is in its very early stages. It is anticipated that other estates
will be reviewed in due course when Phase 1 work is further progressed.
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COUNCIL PRESS RELEASE, HOUSING ZONE BID, MARCH 2016
āKingston welcomes Mayor of Londonās Cambridge Road Estate regeneration
approval
In a move to prepare for Kingstonās growing population, Cambridge Road Estate
is set to see better quality homes and much-needed additional housing following
the approval of a Mayor of London āhousing zoneā bid.
Housing zones are an integral part of the Mayorās housing strategy that puts
forward a range of pioneering measures to boost housing supply, stimulate
building and produce more low cost homes to help meet the 42,000 homes a year
that are needed to manage London's increasing population.
The project, spearheaded by Kingston Councilās regeneration team, is now
confirmed as a council and Mayoral priority, paving the way for better council
housing and supporting infrastructure.
Councillor Kevin Davis, Leader of Kingston Council, said:
āGrowth is the biggest challenge and opportunity facing our borough. We need to
manage this growth and ensure it is right for Kingston. Our estate regeneration
is an opportunity to give our residents much higher quality living
environments, as well as expand our provision of affordable and Council owned
homes.
āKingston Council submitted a bid to the Mayor of London for a new housing zone
in Kingston, as well as grant funding, focused on the Cambridge Road Estate and
other smaller sites. Grant funding is essential in supporting our ambition for
regeneration and affordable homes. Our accepted bid makes us one of 31 London
zones which are marked for regeneration. This is an enormous project running to
hundreds of millions of pounds of investment that must be handled with
sensitivity and care and this funding will enable us to carry out the most
thorough consideration of the options with residents.
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āCurrently the Cambridge Road Estate is made up of 830 homes. The bid required
that we estimate the number of homes that could be developed within the
proposal. Our estimate at this early stage was an increase to 1,600 homes on
the estate. The remaining 99 homes within the bid are for other small sites.
For this to happen, we need to work closely with residents on the estate. This
will include support for residents to either remain on site or return to the
estate if their homes need to be replaced. The existing residents must be and
will continue to be our primary concern.
"It's also important to say that no decision has been made on how the estate
regeneration will shape up. We were given approval by Residents, Health and
Care Services Committee on 17 June 2015 to explore whether the proposed
regeneration of Cambridge Road Estate is feasible and how we would carry out
this project . The initial work to understand the options for this programme,
including community engagement on what these options might be, is due to
complete by October. Following this, a preferred option paper will be prepared
and will go to committee for discussion and approval."ā