Council spending a fortune on Catford estate they plan to demolish

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

Lewisham council has spent over £16 million over the past six years refurbishing an estate it intends to bulldoze.

Since 2018, the authority has funnelled £16.21 million into repairs to Milford Towers in Catford.

The Labour-run council began moving council tenants out of the estate above Catford Centre in 2012, as demolition of the estate was due to begin in 2016. But over a decade later, the estate – which is made up of 276 properties in eight blocks – is still standing as plans to regenerate Milford Towers and the wider Catford town centre have stalled.

Public questions submitted to the council over three years show the Labour-run council has spent millions on Milford Towers since 2018, despite intending to demolish the estate.

In response to a public question, councillor Will Cooper, cabinet member for better homes, said the council had spent £14.52 million in total on two phases of investment in the estate.

The first phase, which is now complete, included roof replacements, as well as new windows, kitchens and bathrooms. The second phase, which is due to be finished in March 2025, includes the installation of new lifts and CCTV cameras, as well as the replacement of staircase windows.

In 2021, in response to another public question, Cllr Paul Bell, then cabinet member for housing and regeneration, said over £1.69 million had been spent on refurbishment and concrete repair works to the estate that took place in 2018/19.

On Monday, Lewisham councillors approved plans to continue leasing out 181 properties on the estate to housing association Notting Hill Genesis (NHG) for another year due to delays in the regeneration of Catford town centre.

An all-Labour urgency committee took less than four minutes to approve the proposals, which must get government approval. Cllr Cooper said: “There’s not much more to be said on the report, so I’m just going to formally move it and ask if there’s a seconder.”

The council originally agreed to lease a number of homes on the estate to NHG until 2015 to prevent the estate from becoming empty in advance of its demolition and to deter antisocial behaviour and squatting. Due to delays in the regeneration scheme, the council has already twice extended the housing association’s lease on properties at Milford Towers.

In February, the London Renters Union (LRU) claimed NHG was charging as much as £950 per month for flats on the estate, almost twice as much as the cost of the council’s in-house properties. At the time, NHG said the accommodation was rented at below-market rates for the area.

Pictured top: The Milford Towers estate above Catford Centre (Picture: Robert Firth)