Government drafts in Lord Heseltine to transform or replace 100 of the worst estates

Central Hill Estate

David Cameron has announced a plan to replace some of the country鈥檚 most run-down housing estates with attractive and safe homes.

The government is to work with 100 sink estates to either radically transform them or in the worst cases knock them down and replace them.

The strategy is to be supported by a new 拢140m fund to jump start regeneration projects and an Estate Regeneration Advisory Panel, chaired by Lord Heseltine, which will report in detail by this year鈥檚 Autumn Statement.

The announcement comes ahead of a report from Savills commissioned by the Cabinet Office which shows that housing and estate regeneration could help catalyse the building of hundreds of thousands of new homes in London alone.

Cameron said: 鈥淔or decades, sink estates 鈥� and frankly, sometimes the people who lived in them 鈥� had been seen as something simply to be managed. It鈥檚 time to be more ambitious at every level.

鈥淭he mission here is nothing short of social turnaround, and with massive estate regeneration, tenants protected, and land unlocked for new housing all over Britain, I believe we can tear down anything that stands in our way.鈥�

Secretary of State Greg Clark said: 鈥淲e know the worst estates offer huge potential to be revived so that they become thriving communities and places which people want to live and work in.

That鈥檚 why we鈥檙e so determined to kick-start work which will benefit the lives of thousands of people by providing high quality homes.鈥�

Yolande Barnes, Savills鈥� research director, said housing estates could deliver more homes and be made into better neighbourhoods by 鈥渞e-integrating them into the wider street network and creating or repairing the streetscape鈥�.

鈥淭he signs are that new developments of 鈥榗omplete streets鈥� cost less to build than conventional estate renewal,鈥� she said.

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