Rose Asenguah’s home on the Lesnes Estate in London is at risk of being bulldozed.
The brutalist estate is famous for providing a backdrop for the film A Clockwork Orange (Image: Facundo Arrizabalaga/MyLondon/LDRS)
A woman who refuses to move from an estate earmarked for redevelopment has warned “this is England” and homes can’t just be taken away. Rose Asenguah, 69, lives in a house on the Lesnes Estate in Thamesmead, southeast London. The brutalist estate is famous for providing a backdrop for the film A Clockwork Orange.
There are 596 homes on the estate, but plans by not-for-profit housing association Peabody have seen a majority emptied, with 80 to 100 households left. Peabody wants to bulldoze the 1960s estate and build around 1,500 new homes under plans approved by Bexley Council in 2022. But some residents refuse to leave.
Rose Asenguah, 69, lives in a house on the Lesnes Estate (Image: Facundo Arrizabalaga/MyLondon/LDRS)
Ms Asenguah told MyLondon she didn’t think the council and developer have a right to sell her house without her permission.
She said: “That’s tantamount to stealing, to trespassing. This is England. You can’t just come into people’s homes and say you want them.”
The Lesnes Estate local even threatened to take the case to the United Nations and European Court of Human Rights.
Jeffrey Woodward, 79, has lived on the Lesnes Estate for 40 years. He said the vacant properties could be used to house people on the social housing register.
Peabody insists the new homes will help address a housing shortage in the capital and most residents supported its regeneration plan.
Some residents and campaigners who still live on the estate appealed to former Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Angela Rayner to overturn approval of the planning application. But in August officials refused to do that.
The estate features in A Clockwork Orange starring Malcolm McDowell (Image: FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images)
A Peabody spokesperson said: “The South Thamesmead community is strong, and we want to keep it that way. While Lesnes Estate residents will need to move from their current home, there’s no need for them to leave South Thamesmead, unless they want to.
“We have provided resident homeowners with different options to move to a home close by. Each option is backed up by a strong package of financial support.
“Resident homeowners have the chance either to buy a 1960s home like theirs on the neighbouring estate, a new home in the brand-new development, or another home in Thamesmead – or elsewhere – if that’s what they choose.”
Peabody’s spokesperson added that it will be offering resident homeowners the market value for their property plus 10% as compensation.
They said Peabody will also help bridge potential price gaps between their current and future home by contributing up to half of the equity in their new property.
A Bexley council spokesperson said the local authority acknowledged the depth of feeling expressed by longstanding residents but the regeneration was being delivered by Peabody and was not directly managed by the council.
