please empty your brain below

So London is desperately short of affordable housing. But these houses are boarded up, rather than used on even a short term let? You couldn't make it up.
But *why* is the gate still there?
I once went, back in 1983,to visit a person who lived in Denison Point, one of the 3 tower blocks.
I have been back to Carpenters Road more recently to visit a computer fair held nearby. Such a changed area.
Pity it is not economic to refurbish the 3 Tower blocks as they have been part of the scene in Statford for a long time now.
I think that during the Olympics the top floors of Lund Point were used by the BBC for their Olympic coverage studios, and AlJazera TV did the same with Dennison Point.
Certainly could become a prime development site.
The council website says that refurbishing the tower blocks was in 2007 deemed not possible for the following reason:
Estimate of £120,000 per flat to refurbish, market price £110,000 per flat.
Unfair for leaseholders to pay so much.

I think that the decision now rests with the LLDC, but surely that argument would no longer be true today, with flats in the Park selling for stupid sums?
Interesting news about the bus stops on Warton Road. However they remain invisible to Countdown and to the relevant Spider Bus Map. Looks like the various data processes have not caught up with reality on the ground.
Keeping Carpenters Road closed is good news for children travelling to/from Carpenters Road school.
What is not good news is "the threat of richer folk" or the fact that the term "social cleansing" seems to have entered into common usage in London. As for "redevelopment opportunities" many know what that really means for locals who are not "Googling estate agents and mulling a mortage" but are faced with high rents and low-paid jobs. "A wave of affluence" may indeed be approaching and with it perhaps more closed gates.
Nothing to add, just to say that this is a characteristically brilliant report - beautifully written and shining a light on something a mile from my home but about which I knew nothing. Thank you.
Not all the residents of Carpenters Estate are tenants. Many of those who remain opted to buy their council houses years back, and are now faced with the prospect of compulsory purchase orders. What's the likelihood any of those folks will get a payment that affords them a similar amount of space in Zones 2 or 3?
According to Newham's website http://www.newham.gov.uk/Pages/ServiceChild/The-Carpenters-Estate-Stratford.aspx in Sept 2012, of the 434 affected properties, 38 still have leaseholders in them and 32 still have tenants. It's probably fewer now, so many leaseholders must have accepted the deal. Normally it's market value + 10%. In a similar project in Hammersmith, leaseholders are promised an equivalent property in the new development even if they can't afford it with the proceeds of their enforced sale. The council puts a charge on the property and recovers the excess if and when it's sold on. Having said that, promises are only promises, and similar arrangements in Poplar around Balfron House haven't turned out quite as the residents hoped, with accusations of 'social cleansing'. See http://novaramedia.com/2013/08/social-cleansing-in-tower-hamlets-interview-with-balfron-tower-evictee/










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