De Beauvoir Estate

The plans for new homes on the De Beauvoir Estate include approximately 308 new, well-designed homes across 6 sites:

• the depot located at the corner of Downham Road and Southgate Road
• 81 Downham Road (formerly the temporary site of Hackney New Primary School) and the adjacent ball court and Tenants and Residents Association building
  Balmes Road podium garages
• the depot located at the corner of Downham Road and De Beauvoir Road
• the car parking spaces on the corner of Downham Road and Hertford Road
• Trinity Court, Housing Office, Cleaner’s Depot and current project hub

At least 50% of these homes will available for social rent and shared ownership, with the rest available for outright sale – this would help to pay for them with little government funding for social housing.

The social rent homes will be allocated to families on our housing waiting list, with priority for residents in priority need living on the De Beauvoir Estate.

The shared ownership and outright sale homes will be sold by our in-house sales team, Hackney Sales, in accordance with our sales and marketing principles.

They are prioritised for people living and working in Hackney who are unable to afford to buy a home outright but are unlikely to be prioritised for social housing.

We’re also considering whether we could deliver a second phase of around 100 further new homes – plus a new neighbourhood housing office, local shops and workspace in one coordinated development – by demolishing some other existing buildings.

This could include demolishing:

• the Queensbridge and De Beauvoir neighbourhood housing office at 31 De Beauvoir Road
• the Hackney Council depot on Balmes Road
• Trinity Court
• commercial units at 19, 21, 23, 25, 27 and 29 De Beauvoir Road and 57, 59, 61, 63 and 65 Downham Road

If any demolition of homes did go ahead, the existing five secure Council tenants in Trinity Court would be guaranteed the right to return to a new, modern home at the same type of social rent, with one leaseholder offered a fair deal and compensation.

As part of the plans for Phase 2, we will be balloting residents of Trinity Court on our plans.

The principle of balloting residents at Trinity Court was agreed at the Council’s Cabinet meeting in July 2020.

The ballot is a critical part of ensuring that residents are at the heart of our proposals for the De Beauvoir Estate.

We think it’s right that if we’re proposing to demolish your home, you should be able to vote on whether the proposals should go ahead.

An independent body will be appointed to carry out the ballot and at the moment, we are expecting to conduct the ballot in Winter 2020/1. We will continue to work with you and PPCR (independent tenant and leaseholder advisors).

If you are a resident at Trinity Court, you don’t need to do anything right now, but we will be contacting you over the next couple of months about voter eligibility for the ballot. In order to be eligible you must be:

• a social tenant named as a tenant on the tenancy agreement
• a resident homeowner (leaseholder or freeholder) who has been living in the property as their only or principal home for one year, or
• a resident over the age of 16 whose principal home is Trinity Court and has been on the housing register for one year

In the meantime, if you have any questions about the project or the ballot, please contact James at james.molloson@hackney.gov.uk or on 020 8356 2154.

For independent advice, please contact Christina Byrne from PPCR at cbyrne@ppcr.org.uk or by freephone 0800 317066.

The plans for new homes are part of a coordinated investment in the estate, which includes:

• hundreds of new kitchens and bathrooms installed for existing residents
• better public spaces, drainage and security
  refurbishment of Fermain Court and the Rose Lipman Building
• a new home for the De Beauvoir Estate tenants and residents association

We’ve appointed award-winning architects Henley Halebrown, Stephen Taylor and Vogt Landscape to develop designs for both phases.

Using the same team means that there is a joined-up design approach which considers the estate as a whole, prioritising new routes and public space on the estate.

We’ll soon appoint an architect team to progress ideas for the second phase of new homes.

We’ve set up a dedicated steering group made up of local residents, chaired by Councillor James Peters, which works independently with the architects to ensure residents’ ambitions are at the heart of the design process.

If you could be directly affected by redevelopment plans, please speak to your independent tenant and leaseholder advisors, PPCR.

Throughout the design process, we’re hosting lots of opportunities for you to have your say and ensure your views and knowledge feed into the plans.

We’ve also spoken directly to residents and businesses who could be affected by any redevelopment plans to reassure them and explain the guarantees we would offer them if any proposals did go ahead.

Over the last year, we’ve held 3 stages of consultation with residents on the proposals for the first phase of new homes.

We’ve also held two stages of consultation with residents on the proposals for the second phase of new homes.

We’re now finalising our designs and will be holding a final exhibition in the new year.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, this is likely to be held online.