Housing the Main Priority for Roehampton Residents

Local scepticism that outcome of General Election will change things

Chris Kettle is frustrated with the number of empty homes on the Alton Estate. Picture: Facundo Arrizabalaga/MyLondon

July 5, 2024

Roehampton residents said housing is their biggest priority ahead of the General Election, as flats on their estate lie empty due to stalled regeneration plans. Creating more opportunities for young people and tackling crime were also among the issues residents of Roehampton said they cared about most, when the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) visited the area.

Roehampton sits in the Putney constituency, which was the only seat taken from the Conservatives by Labour in the 2019 General Election. The swing saw Labour’s Fleur Anderson win the seat with a comfortable majority of 4,774 votes and she was re-elected on Thursday (4 July) with an even larger majority.

Some of the candidates in the election voiced major concerns over the long-delayed regeneration of the Alton Estate, one of the largest council estates in the UK, and the rest of Roehampton that surrounds it.

Wandsworth Council’s former Conservative administration approved plans in 2020, that had been drawn up in 2014, to demolish 288 homes on the estate for 1,108 new homes, including 261 affordable homes. But Labour scrapped the plans when it took control of the authority in 2022, for the first time in 44 years, arguing they did not include enough council homes, and set about putting together a new scheme.

Lib Dem candidate Kieren McCarthy said furious residents had been ‘treated appallingly for 20 years’ at an election hustings on 18 June, when candidates were grilled over the regeneration plans. “It was the estate of the future,” he said. “It’s been left to rot and it’s an embarrassment.”

Longtime resident Chris Kettle, 79, expressed disgust that a block of flats and retail units on the estate had been left empty for around four years as people and businesses were moved out before the original plans were pulled. “That’s an empty building whereas we could have people living there,” he told the LDRS. “It makes me sick.”

While Mr Kettle loves living in Roehampton, he said he was particularly concerned about the housing crisis and frustrated that homes on the estate had been empty for so long. He added, “This is what we need, housing. It’s a white elephant sitting there – really and truly it’s been that empty for this long, they could knock that whole lot back, and it goes way back, and they could build another tower block like that that allows how many? This is what’s needed.”

Properties in Roehampton had an overall average price of £717,954 over the past year, according to Rightmove. The current average rental price of homes in Roehampton, as published by Foxtons, is £519 per week.

At the same time, due to the high number of families on the council’s housing waiting list and the shortage of available homes, its website warns it can’t offer a home to most applicants – even families who have been given the highest priority to be moved must expect to wait several years before being offered a property. There were 11,860 households on the authority’s waiting list in March last year.

In response to Mr Kettle’s concerns, a Wandsworth Council spokesperson, which is currently restricted in what it can say due to pre-election guidelines, told the LDRS, “The council has spent the last two years listening and directly engaging with residents and businesses on the Alton Estate to make sure that a new plan for the area tackles all the previously unaddressed issues and priorities that they have raised.”

The housing crisis was uppermost in Serhii Anisimov’s mind when asked about his priorities by the LDRS. The 70-year-old fled Ukraine with his partner more than two years ago and the couple have lived with their 52-year-old son ever since while they struggle to find a place to rent.

70-year-old Serhii Anisimov is struggling with high rents after fleeing Ukraine. Picture: Facundo Arrizabalaga/MyLondon

He said, “We are looking for a house for rent but it’s impossible for us because this market is overheated and it’s clear that we are looking for low budget housing and, because both of us retired and we have pension credit, it’s impossible to find a house in these conditions.”

Petersims Ejale, 50, said he wanted to see the estate better maintained as a whole. Creating more opportunities for young people, having more police officers on the streets and residents feeling safer were also particularly important to him.

He said, “Youth development and security and more policing, that should be the best thing they need here – taking care of the youth because most of the youth seem not to be doing anything, always roaming the streets.”

Petersims Ejale wants the estate to be better maintained . Picture: Facundo Arrizabalaga/MyLondon

Margaret James, 77, said there were no issues that particularly concerned her locally as she described Roehampton as a ‘very nice’ place to live, although she raised concerns about crime and described wanting to see more done to tackle it. She said: “I say nice, up the other end there it’s hooligan end… drunks and there’s a lot of drugs, and things like that, they’re all up there, but the other end is very nice.”

Margaret James believes Roehampton is a ‘very nice’ place to live. Picture: Facundo Arrizabalaga/MyLondon

A total of 141 crimes were reported in Roehampton in April, according to Met Police data, including 46 anti-social behaviour incidents and 42 violent and sexual offences.

Courtney Connell, 64, also said he had no particular priorities for the area as he expressed disillusionment with the major parties ahead of the election. He voiced support for George Galloway, leader of the Workers Party of Britain, as he felt ‘people can relate to him more’.

Courtney Connell is voting for George Galloway's party. Picture: Facundo Arrizabalaga/MyLondon

He said, “There’s nothing really about the area… because I don’t think about none of them, I’m not voting for none of them. Well, I’ll vote for George Galloway.”

He added, “I’m not voting for no Labour candidate, no Conservative, none of them, because they’re a waste of space. The Labour Party, as far as I see it, wolves in sheep’s clothing.”

Charlotte Lilywhite - Local Democracy Reporter