£91million funding secured to kickstart High Road West redevelopment
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CGI image of the High Road West redevelopment

£91million funding secured to kickstart High Road West redevelopment

By Luchia Robinson and Simon Allin, Local Democracy Reporter

Haringey Council has been awarded £91 million funding to kickstart the revised High Road West (HRW) redevelopment scheme.

Made up of £70 million from the government and £21 million from the Mayor London’s of Land Fund, the funding package was agreed by Haringey’s cabinet last month.

The funds will be used to create 2,600 mixed tenure properties, and more than treble the number of council-rent homes on the development.

For plans to go ahead, residents on the Love Lane Estate (which will be demolished under the scheme) are required to take part in a ‘yes’/ ‘no’ ballot, expected to happen in June.

Cllr Charles Adje, cabinet member for finance and regeneration, told the meeting the increase in council homes would enable residents on the Love Lane Estate to “remain together as a community.”

“The scheme offers a once-in-lifetime opportunity to tackle the barriers of inequalities in north Tottenham and deliver comprehensive and coordinated change,” he added.

Haringey Council agreed a masterplan to regenerate the area of the High Road opposite the Tottenham Hotspur stadium in 2014.

A deal signed with developer Lendlease in 2017 included a plan for 30% affordable homes and 145 social rent homes.

The funding approved by cabinet last month will boost the affordable housing level to 40% and the number of social homes to 500.

Speaking to TCP, leader of Haringey Council, Cllr Joseph Ejiofor said: “I really think that the residents need to understand that we’ve listened to them − we’ve improved the scheme. We’ve taken on board their key concerns.

“There was a fear that they were going to be turfed off the estate − that was never the case, it was never something our administration would agree with.”

Love Lane leasehold tenants are guaranteed a home on the redeveloped estate. Haringey Council has now made a commitment to the 200 temporary residents (they must have lived on the estate for a year prior to the landlord offer) that they will also be re-housed, if a ‘yes’ ballot goes through.

Cllr Ejiofor said: “Ultimately, people need to vote for this change, they need to agree the landlord offer and vote for it in the ballot; if they do that, effectively the development progresses. The temporary tenants on the estate, and the secure tenants on the estate − we can guarantee them a home on the new estate should they so wish it.”

It’s expected that the redevelopment will create more than 3,500 jobs and 1,500 training opportunities, with Lendlease pledging £10m economic and social investment to go toward providing employment training and upskilling opportunities.

Independent freehold traders in the Peacock Industrial Estate, however, remain affected as their businesses are slated for demolition.

Cllr Ejiofor told TCP: “Any people or businesses who are part of any area that is being redeveloped by the council are an integral part of that neighbourhood’s future, but being an integral part of that neighbourhood’s future doesn’t mean that you stay in exactly the same spot.

“Roughly 40-50% of the businesses in the Peacock Industrial Estate, and the commercial businesses overall will be able to be integrated within the new development. We are aware that a certain number of businesses won’t be able to be integrated there, but it is our continued objective to make sure that we can find them space as close as possible to where they are.”

Speaking to councillors on behalf of Peacock Industrial Estate at last month’s meeting, Joe Olivieri said: “It is not acceptable for you to go around and say, ‘we will take your land if you do not cooperate.’

“We will continue to defend our rights as owners of freehold properties. Our freehold properties are not for sale.”

Cllr Ejiofor says the council is seeking a “bespoke solution for each individual business” and points out most firms on the estate would not need to move for several years.

He added that the council aimed to ensure businesses could move to alternative sites close to the estate, such as Shaftesbury Road, which is around 650 yards away.

Cllr Ruth Gordon (Labour, Tottenham Hale) asked why a consultation with people living on the Love Lane Estate did not include an option for temporary tenants to be offered secure tenancies ahead of a ballot on the regeneration.

Cllr Adje replied that the issue would be dealt with at a later stage. He said: “There is going to be a paper to discuss tenancies, which everyone in the borough will be consulted on.”

Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Luke Cawley-Harrison (Crouch End) asked if some social tenants would see their rents increase in their new homes – in some cases by up to 50% – as a requirement of Greater London Authority funding arrangements.

He questioned what would happen to people who cannot afford such rents, and whether social rents would be set at London or Haringey levels.

In response, Cllr Adje said: “Our ambition is to continue to charge fair and equitable council rents. We will do everything in our power to ensure Haringey rents, in terms of council-owned properties, are reasonable and affordable for our tenants.”

Cabinet members agreed the funding package following a debate held in private session.

The announcement of the Love Lane ballot is expected in July. If the scheme is voted through, the council says it will then develop a planning application with community input, from August to December.

This will be followed by the first phase of building at Love Lane Estate starting in 2022, projected to be completed by 2026/27.

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