Prime Minister David Cameron has committed to regenerating some of the nation’s worst housing estates with safe, attractive properties…
The government has promised to remove some of the worst housing estates across the country and replace them with new, fit for purpose homes.
The regeneration plan will see £140m funding set aside “to end poverty and improve the life chances of the most disadvantaged” parts of society. The government said it will work with 100 housing estates nationwide to transform them or knock them down and replace them with high quality homes.
Speaking in the Sunday Times, Prime Minister David Cameron said: “Within these so-called sink estates, behind front doors, families build warm and welcoming homes.
“But step outside in the worst estates and you’re confronted by brutal high-rise towers and dark alleyways that are a gift to criminals.
“Decades of neglect have led to gangs and anti-social behaviour. And poverty has become entrenched, because those who could afford to move have understandably done so.”
Cameron added: “For some, this will simply mean knocking them down and starting again. For others, it might mean changes to layout, upgrading facilities and improving local road and transport links.”
The Prime Minister said it was time to tackle the issue head on and improve the social outcomes for people living in these so-called “sink” estates.
“For decades, sink estates – and frankly, sometimes the people who lived in them – had been seen as something simply to be managed. It’s time to be more ambitious at every level,” he said.
“The 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.”
Cameron said three out of four rioters in 2011 came from sink estates.
“The riots of 2011 didn’t emerge from within terraced streets or low-rise apartment buildings. The rioters came overwhelmingly from these postwar estates. That’s not a coincidence,” he said.
The government hopes regenerating these areas will enable them to become thriving communities were people want to live and work.
The nationwide strategy will be supported by a new Estate Regeneration Advisory Panel. This will be chaired by Lord Heseltine, who has been an advocate and champion of regenerating Britain’s inner cities. A report from the panel is expected to be delivered by this year’s Autumn Statement.
