please empty your brain below

The Balfron Project - sounds like a Dr Who title. Inevitably will end up with hairy aliens squirting through a hole in space time to appear on the streets of Bow. Or Cardiff.

I was reading somewhere recently that the entire building is to be decanted in order to carry out a complete refurbishment, concerns were raised that many long standing residents would be unable to return to their original homes and that the landlord would take the opportunity to sell of the units on the private market.

Fishislandskin: as a Balfron resident I can confirm that is indeed the case. The bombshell dropped back in the autumn in the form a a long letter from Poplar Harca (the housing association that took over from Tower Hamlets a few years ago).

Everyone has to move out for a so far unspecified period (but my guess is that it will be upwards of 18 months). Leaseholders get their rent paid on alternative accomodation of their choosing for the duration - not too bad, until you consider the enormous bill they'll get landed with for their share of the refurbishment works at the end of the process. Alternatively, they can sell at market rate + 10%, which is the option I suspect many will take.

Tenants (who will be 'helped' to find alternative accomodation) will seemingly have very little chance of returning, however. Poplar Harca have pretty much said the the cost of the works will be such that the only way they can fund it all is by selling off all the flats on the private market at the end of the process.

To be fair, communal areas are in dire need of refurbishment. But Poplar Harca's approach seems pretty extreme - and when you consider the astronomical service charges leaseholders have to pay at the moment, it's not surprising that many question their commitment to efficiency and value for money.

For many of those who turned out for the Balfron Project photo (including me) it was a bittersweet moment indeed.

I was going to make a smarmy comment about the architects surname. (Really?) But the Balfron resident's comment sobered me up. I'm sorry for the Balfron residents.

Yes, 'brutalism' indeed. I'm sorry.

Very interested to read Balfron Resident comments.
It reminds me of when I nearly bought an ex-council flat in North Kensington. The council were in the process of handing the building over to an association and large scale renovation of the 10 storey block was being carried out. The person I was buying from had bought the flat from the council under the right to buy scheme, but could not afford the bill for the renovation work so was having to sell.
I put an offer in but so did someone else and I did not win.
However that was about 10 years ago. The building today again has scaffolding up and is being "renovated" I wonder what size bill any leaseholders will get this time.
I think this is an ongoing problem if you buy an ex-council flat in a high rise block.
I hope the things work out OK for the people in Balfron.

"We must destroy social housing to save it"











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