Custom House Phase One Regeneration Area Landlord Offer: Answering your Community-Led Questions via E16 CLT’s new FAQ!
In November 2022 the much anticipated Custom House Phase One Regeneration Area Landlord Offer was unveiled to Custom House residents, detailing Newham Council’s vision of Custom House’s regeneration and housing delivery and tenure mix. On the 23rd November 2022 the residents ballot opens, providing a critical opportunity for eligible residents to vote on the vision and details of the landlord offer.
Upon the release of the landlord offer, E16 CLT convened a CLT working group to review its contents and made recommendations to the CLT board regarding the CLT’s proposed position on the ballot and its role in supporting residents throughout this time.
These recommendations were:
- ‘The CLT would not be asking people to vote in favour of a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote, and instead would exercise its duty to support our members and residents to make an informed decision.’
- ‘The CLT will also work with organisations such as PEACH to support residents and organisations (including PEACH) to scrutinise the information and help residents make informed decisions.’
The E16 CLT FAQ
In response to this, the CLT has devised an E16 CLT FAQ platform in which E16 CLT members and Custom House residents alike have the opportunity to submit questions to assist with interpreting and informing crucial components of the landlord offer. Answers are provided by E16 CLT community board members happy to assist in answering questions on clarifying complex and/or technical jargon, explaining the broader estate regeneration process, and providing alternative community-led estate regeneration visions and case studies evident within the UK. Questions and answers will be updated throughout the resident ballot voting period.
Here is just a taste of the FAQs:
What is a Landlord Offer?
- A landlord offer is a proposal made by a Council to local residents for the regeneration of their neighbourhood. It could include proposals to demolish buildings and compensate residents, detail the council’s preferred option for the area masterplan, include the number of new homes and tenure mix and associated refurbishment of old homes, and explain the right to return or remain for council tenants.
What is a Residents Ballot?
- A resident ballot is a vote on whether to go ahead with a regeneration proposal detailed in the landlord offer. If a majority of residents vote ‘yes’, this gives the Council the green light to proceed with their plans/vision. If the majority of residents vote ‘no’ the Council will usually revise their plans following recommended re-consultation with the affected community, and present them back to residents for another vote. Eligible residents in the Custom House phase one ballot have 25 days to cast their vote once the residents ballot opens. The resident ballot opens on Wednesday 23 November and closes on Monday 19 December 2022.
Is a Landlord Offer a promise, or a vision?
- A landlord offer is not a guarantee. Rather, the offer is an intended vision of the local authority in what it hopes it can provide as a result of the proposed regeneration. As estate regeneration projects are long term projects, the detail of the vision can change.
What is ‘affordable rent’?
- Affordable rent includes any rent that is discounted from market rent. This could be anything from Social Rent (typically around 45% of the market) up to 80%. It is unusual for Councils to build new Social Rent homes, which are typically replaced with more expensive tenures, especially during estate regeneration programmes. Also known as ‘intermediate rent’, affordable rent/housing has been used to encompass a broad range of housing tenures in London, including Shared Ownership, genuine affordable rent, and London Affordable Rent.
FAQ questions and answers are further supplemented by a more detailed FAQ document, where you can find more detailed answers to your questions should you wish to undertake further research. Click here for the full document!
We want to hear from you!
Whilst we can anticipate some of the questions likely to arise, we want to hear from you in making the FAQ page community-led, and relevant to your questions and needs throughout this process. If you have a question on the landlord offer/residents ballot, broader questions on estate regeneration, or alternative community-led estate regeneration, send your questions to our email address at info@e16clt.co.uk, or alternatively contact us via one of our many social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, and now LinkedIn!). Alternatively, you can contact one of the CLT board members directly if you would like us to relay a question for the FAQs.
Be a part of co-producing community-led regeneration and housing in Custom House!
As a Community Land Trust, the community input is vital to ensuring that the CLT represents the views of the community in co-designing community-led housing, high streets and community centers. Whether you’re a long term Custom House resident, or an aspiring young person wanting a say in shaping your local community, all are welcome to get involved! You can do so in the following ways:
If you want to get behind our movement to build Newham’s first Community Land Trust, and share our values to actively work towards our mission to get a regeneration in Custom House that works for everyone and to provide genuinely affordable housing for our community now and in the future, you can join as a member for just £1.25
More information on the benefits of joining and how to sign up can be found in the following link: https://www.e16clt.co.uk/join/. NB: If the PayPal link does not work for you on first attempt, please submit your joining form anyway and we can follow up for payment.
Come along to our meetings and events!
Share your ideas, experience and expertise at one of our regular meetings and events (ad-hoc and monthly) to plan how to deliver affordable homes and spaces that meet the needs of residents and communities. We host monthly Board meetings to make decisions of E16 CLT’s direction and vision, with ad-hoc events and workshops regularly posted.
Join a working group!
We are looking for people who have specific skills in communication, community and membership organisation and engagement, planning and development, housing and finance, either in a professional or voluntary capacity. If you have a passion for delivering genuine affordable housing and regeneration in line with delivering community social value and want to lend a hand, get in touch!
If you think you have something to offer in skills, knowledge or passion, no matter how small the contribution, you can contact us here, or you can email us at info@e16clt.co.uk.
Please note: E16 CLT are not providers of legal of further specialist advice, and should not be relied upon in shaping community views when deliberating whether to vote for the landlord offer or not. E16 CLT are taking an informative stance on detailing the estate regeneration process as a whole to ensure that ‘you‘, the resident, understand the landlord offer/resident ballot, alongside its broader context within estate regeneration practices and processes.