Purpose

Since the principles for the Canning Town
Estate restoration and regeneration masterplan were approved by
Cabinet in September 2022, the Council’s regeneration team
has continued to work closely with residents and the design team
led by Jestico Whiles (JW) to co-produce the outline
masterplan.
 
This report updates Cabinet on the progress,
presenting the Key stage 3 design report and supporting updates on
the masterplan proposals for Canning Town Estate. Currently, the
proposals have capacity to build or refurbish and retrofit between
approximately 1300 and 1600 homes, comprising a mix of high quality
new homes and retrofitted homes. The initial plot at Vincent Street
has been accelerated to “kickstart” delivery and
resolution to grant planning consent for 147 new affordable homes
was successfully obtained from the Local Planning Authority (LPA)
in February 2023. 
 
The Masterplan proposals include up to 50%
genuinely affordable housing (either social or London Affordable
rent) and comprise a range of house types and sizes alongside
revitalised green and recreational spaces with new retail and other
community uses that support the Canning Town community. The
inclusion of retrofitting as part of the review of options on this
project demonstrates the Council’s commitment to not only
deliver new homes, but also to address the Climate emergency, as
this approach re-uses elements of the existing building, reducing
carbon impact of the development. The masterplan proposals are
summarised in more detail in the ‘Key Stage 3 Design
Report’ (Appendix 1), an evolving document which will
continue to be developed by the design team in collaboration with
residents living on the estate as it progresses towards
submission

Decision

For the reasons set
out in the report and its appendices Cabinet RESOLVED to AGREE:
 
i) 
The latest masterplan proposals for the Canning Town Estate, noting
the direction of travel presented including the provision of
retrofit summarised in Section 4 of this report;
 
ii) 
The design, progression and submission of a planning application
for a second sub-phase plot to ‘kickstart’ and deliver
additional affordable housing to help facilitate decant. (The cost
for which is already contained within the existing budget
approval); 
 
iii) 
The draft Landlord Offer (Appendix 1) and in accordance with the
steps set out in section 5.1.7 of the repot to delegate authority
to the Corporate Director for Inclusive Economy and Housing
Delivery in consultation with Corporate Director of Resources and
the Lead member for Inclusive Economy, Housing Delivery and Climate
Emergency and Transformation and Performance, and the Lead member
for Housing Management and Modernisation, to finalise and publish
the Landlord Offer document for Canning Town Estate;
 
iv) 
To delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Inclusive
Economy & Housing to approve a local lettings plan that
optimises the decant opportunities within the masterplan and the
wider Canning Town area in consultation with the Lead member for
Inclusive Economy, Housing Delivery and Climate Emergency and
Transformation and Performance; alongside the Lead member for
Housing Management and Modernisation; and
 
v) 
The running of a Residents Ballot for the Canning Town Estate
Programme, in accordance with the requirements of the GLA as set
out in the Capital Funding Guide.
 
 
Alternatives
Considered
 
1.  As noted earlier,
the guiding principles for the regeneration of the Canning Town
Estate were re-set by this administration and the Council took on
responsibility for development management and land promotion to
planning stage in 2019. The objective since then has been to
identify the optimum route to deliver the largest proportion of
affordable homes on the estate seeking to provide 50 percent
genuinely affordable homes.
 
2.  As mentioned in this
report, the masterplan proposals are required to be financially
viable and technically deliverable. Against that background, the
following alternatives have been considered:
 
3.  Not to progress to
Resident Ballot: This would result in delaying the delivery
programme and submission of the outline masterplan planning
application, in turn delaying the delivery of genuinely affordable
homes.
 
4.  Alter the delivery
approach. The Council could enter into a development agreement with
a developer. This would reduce the risk to the Council but would
also result in a lower number of affordable homes due to the
developer’s profit margin which would need to be included in
their financial appraisal. The Council would also have less control
over design and other aspects of the scheme.
 
5.  The Council could
wait until many of the delegated authorities requested have been
worked through. However, this would mean that Cabinet would not be
making a decision until the end of 2023, pushing the Ballot towards
the middle of 2024. This would risk in loss of confidence from
residents who are keen to see the programme progress.
 
6.  The land at Vincent
Street has been vacant since 2016. Not accelerating a second
kickstart site with the potential to deliver early affordable
housing would cause further delay to the progress being made on the
estate which has been a long standing issue resulting from
decanting existing residents, which has been ongoing since
2005.