Housing the City.

Labeled as London’s ‘new town’ upon inception and now again some 50 years later, Thamesmead in southeast London reflects the social, economic and political issues of London’s housing agenda both in tenure and in the built environment. Now draped in a rhetoric of ‘regeneration,’ the plans to modernize this modernist estate are representative of a capital-driven market that treats homes as profit- making investments. Instead of using the potential of existing internal and external space in Thamesmead to regenerate the area, the plan takes to complete redevelopment. Thus, tenants’ reality stands in stark contrast to the shiny renderings, manicured lawns, and water features on Peabody’s plan. With the changing nature of housing associations and their estates, tenants are subject to worsening conditions. With a high proportion of the Thamesmead estate tenure belonging to social renters, this report explores three questions in an attempt to rebalance the tenure scales: 1) How can the landlord-tenant relationship begin to converge and can the Peabody plan be a catalyst for this? 2) How can we use the surplus internal space and external space on our site in favour of the social tenants? And 3) Can we unite social tenants to form a collective voice used to represent their needs?

To answer our research questions, we engaged with an array of sources including Census data, Peabody’s business plans, articles and books on the London housing crisis and Thamesmead regeneration, and historic documents from the London Metropolitan Archives. Additionally, we completed ethnographic work with 12 people, interviewing Peabody residents on-site, at a housing summit, a movie screening and a panel discussion, and a party to campaign against the closing down of a social club. These settings were places where tenants could openly share their concerns regarding Peabody’s development. Additionally, we spoke with leaders in the field of social housing organisation and management, including a manager of a tenant management organisation, a housing campaign leader, a housing finance expert, and two Peabody employees. Together with our research and fieldwork, these voices helped us paint a picture of the needs and possible solutions for ‘housing the city’ in Thamesmead.