Central Hill Estate

Council housing in Lambeth, earmarked for demolition in regeneration plans;

With 476 homes are earmarked for demolition, Central Hill is the largest of Lambeth’s five estates earmarked for demolition. Lambeth says that it is demolishing the estate because the cost of refurbishing the existing homes is £44,000 per dwelling when its average cost for other estates is only £16,000 and that the Council simply doesn’t have the £18.5m required. Residents and campaigners, however, claim the high cost of refurbishment is being exaggerated by the Council and proponents of the plans.

• 1966-1974: Central Hill estate built, designed by Rosemary Stjernstedt, Roger Westman and the Lambeth Council planning department.
• December 2014: Estate first earmarked for potential regeneration.
• 2016: Decant and re-housing programme started.
• 2019: Lambeth is estimated to be spending £94m alone on buying back leasehold properties across its 5 estate demolitions.
• November 2020: Lambeth approved a ‘kick-start’ initial phase of redevelopment involving a decanted block previously used for temporary housing.

• Survey response
• Survey response
• Phone conversation/interview with Sabine, an active member of the Central Hill Refurbish Don’t Demolish Campaign

• 11/08/21, SW Londoner
• 31/01/22, My London
• 01/02/22, the Mirror
• 11/08/21, Architects Journal
• 14/06/22, London News Online
• 02/07/22, Wandsworth Times

• 17/01/2015, tweet by Jennifer Brathwaite
• 22/09/2021, youtube video by Central Hill Refurb Don’t Demolish Lambeth Estates