Major milestone reached as Ebury residents vote yes to final regeneration plans.
The positive result follows Westminster City Council’s decision to hold a resident ballot to decide the future of the area, which is a new approach by the administration to give residents the final say before undertaking significant council regeneration in the city.
91% of eligible voting residents from Ebury Bridge voted in favour of how the scheme will be delivered, and endorsed the council’s proposals to increase the number of new council homes for social rent.
With a voter turnout of 67%, which includes residents who have moved off the estate but have the ‘right to return’, a positive result means the council is now able to move forward with plans to build new high quality, affordable homes by unlocking up to £41million of additional funding from the Greater London Authority (GLA).
The regeneration of the estate is already underway, and the original plan was to deliver just over 780 new homes, of which over 50% will be affordable. However, due to the favourable ballot result the number of new council homes for social rent could now increase by around 130 (from 41 to over 170) due to GLA funding, and this is in addition to the 198 Council homes being replaced and updated for the council tenants who currently live on the estate.
The planned regeneration at Ebury will also deliver important facilities and spaces to support the health and wellbeing of local residents including a new community hub, nursery, play facilities, fitness centre and four high-quality public squares and pocket parks.
Cllr Noble, Cabinet Member for Climate Action, Regeneration and Renters at Westminster City Council said:
We’re pleased that almost all residents voted in favour of our final Ebury Bridge proposals. This is the second ballot we’ve introduced as the new administration, and the second ballot that local residents have voted yes to.
We’re serious about giving local communities more say on the future of their area. With over 4,000 Westminster households on the housing waiting list, our priority is building the types of homes that our families and individuals need. Consulting with residents and taking on board their feedback on proposed regenerations plans allows us to build even more social and lower rent homes needed in our city to create a fairer Westminster for everyone.
The council launched its new Fairer Westminster strategy in October 2022, which sets out how the council will work with the local community to support them and tackle inequality. The introduction of resident ballots aims to deliver more Council homes for social rent and to build a fairer city for our residents to live in. As part of the new Fairer Westminster strategy, the target is for approximately 70% of affordable homes on council-owned developments to be Council homes for social rent.
The council also held a resident ballot for the Church Street regeneration scheme, where residents also voted yes to the council’s plans.
Across the council’s two major regeneration schemes, the GLA funding could enable the delivery of over 300 additional new council homes for social rent (at least 150 at Church Street and 171 at Ebury Bridge)
The council announced its commitment to increase the number of affordable homes in Westminster in October last year. Subject to confirming the GLA funding for both Ebury and Church Street, the additional affordable homes across the schemes will take the total to at least 1,600 new council homes for social rent.
Published: 23 February 2023