Protesters fighting plans to regenerate estate told to leave empty homes

By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter

Residents fighting plans to demolish their homes have been given notice to end their protest against a scheme to deliver nearly 2,000 new units on the site. 

Protesters have been occupying homes on the Lesnes Estate in Thamesmead for five months in the hope of blocking plans for Peabody to build 1,950 new homes.

The trust was granted outline planning permission by Bexley council in October 2022 to knock down homes on the estate ahead of its redevelopment scheme for the area. 

Maria Ivanova, 72, who has lived on the Lesnes Estate with her son since 2007, said she has experienced many sleepless nights after paying off her mortgage earlier this year. 

The homeowner claimed she has been offered £260,000 by the trust for her four-bedroom house and garden, alongside £10,000 to assist moving costs.

Ms Ivanova said: “It’s stressful. I don’t know what I will do when they decide to demolish the house. 

“My family from Bulgaria visits me every summer. For the last two years they said this area has never been so dirty.”

Pictures show multiple cars on the estate with broken windows as well as a variety of fly-tipped household items including mattresses, bathtubs, chests of drawers and armchairs left in both communal areas and gardens of derelict homes.

Ms Ivanova feels that the slow decline of the estate had been done “intentionally” by Peabody. 

Andrea Gilbert, 36, is a housing activist who has occupied homes on the estate alongside residents since April 6.

A letter from August 22, sent on behalf of Peabody claimed that the occupiers of the properties had no right to remain in the homes and must vacate immediately.

Ms Gilbert said: “There has been nothing apart from Peabody sending the notices. This is the only engagement that we’ve had with them and all the residents have asked is for a conversation.”

Occupiers have started a petition for John Lewis, executive director of Peabody, to consider refurbishing homes on the Lesnes Estate instead of demolishing them, which has received more than 1,000 signatures. 

Ms Gilbert said the group plans to hand a copy of the petition to the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, tomorrow.

A Mayor of London spokeswoman said: “The Mayor is committed to ensuring all regeneration schemes in the capital are in the best interests of local residents and will consider all comments made in favour and against the regeneration of the Lesnes Estate.”

Ms Gilbert said Peabody staff only started clearing fly-tipped items from homes on the estate in the past week after being ‘shamed’ into doing so by residents. 

She added that many homeowners were unaware that the trust planned to demolish the estate when voting to include it in plans to redevelop the area. 

A Peabody document from 2020 sent to residents on the estate shows no explicit wording to confirm homes in the area would be demolished as part of the proposals.

A Peabody spokesman said: “We know that moving home can be a challenging time, and there’s a lot to adjust to. We’ve always been happy to talk to the residents about their concerns and are here to support them through the process.”

They said the majority of residents on the Lesnes Estate voted in favour of the regeneration, which they claimed would bring about hundreds of high quality, much-needed homes in the borough. 

They said work had been done to ensure all resident homeowners can move to a new home in the local area without needing to take on an additional mortgage.

Pictured top: Andrea Gilbert shown with the notice for occupiers to vacate properties on the estate (Picture: Joe Coughlan)