22 November 2007
We received a petition asking:
"We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Save The Original Prefabs. = S.T.O.P."
Details of Petition:
"The Excalibur prefab estate. 189 prefabs erected by prisoners of war, are due for demolition, Please sign the petition to save this village like estate in Catford se6 1rp. Please visit the estate and we are sure you will be pleasantly surprised by it quaint buildings and prefabricated church. It is a residential area and you will be most welcome, The estate is earmarked for demolition to make way for a large council housing estate, don’t let this happen, in years to come people will say why on earth was such a lovely place allowed to be demolished, a virtually crime free, solid community Vs the bulldozers. Please Help, sign the petition."
Read the Government’s response
The petition concerns the proposed demolition of the Excalibur Estate in Lewisham and relates to the Government’s Decent Homes Programme and the management of this programme by London Borough of Lewisham with regard to Excalibur Estate.
The Government is committed to providing all social housing tenants with decent homes and has set a target to ensure that, by 2010, all social homes meet minimum standards of decency. In order to be Decent, a home should be warm, weatherproof, have reasonably modern facilities and be in a good state of repair. We expect over 95% of social housing to meet the Decent Homes Standard by 2010, though there is some flexibility for delivery beyond 2010 where it is needed to achieve better value for money, or higher standards of housing ie. through a mixture of demolition/refurbishment/ reprovision and additional market or intermediate housing supporting the creation of mixed communities.
In order to bring in the investment needed to make all social housing decent, the Government provide three flexible ways to support local authorities who need additional funding to make their homes decent:
- Setting up a high performance Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO);
- Entering into a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract or
- Transferring Stocks to Registered Social Landlords (RSLs).
Local authorities can also use a mixture of options, as Lewisham have chosen to do, and they are pursuing a stock transfer in the case of Excalibur Estate.
The Government appreciate the concerns expressed about the future of Excalibur. However, local authorities in consultation with residents, are obliged to consider how best to meet the decency standard. This could result in the transfer of stock and demolition of existing properties being deemed the most suitable option. Local authorities undertaking close consultation with tenants, must consider all avenues open to them to finance a transfer, and ensure that this is considered during the RSL selection. It is not the policy of the Government to intervene in the stock option process so long as we are satisfied that a local authority has considered all the options in a transparent way and consulted and engaged with stakeholders, especially residents, fully in the process.
Lewisham’s stock condition survey of Excalibur in 2004 found that none of the homes met the decent homes standard and that it would take £8m of investment to reach this standard. We understand that an independent evaluation found that refurbishment of the properties would result in a negative valuation of £5.3m. It was therefore decided that refurbishment would not represent value for money and that the best option to meet the Decent Homes Standard would be to transfer the estate to a housing association which would demolish existing properties and build new homes.
The Government are assured residents have been fully involved in the process, from the original application for a place on the Government’s Housing Stock Transfer Programme, to selection of the preferred RSL and development of the Master Plan for Excalibur. A Test of Opinion to be held in November will reveal the current level of support for the proposed transfer. All council tenants resident on the Excalibur Estate will be notified of this and given the opportunity to take part, and residents who have signed the petition will be able to express their concerns, should they still wish to do so.