Of Relevance to Brent Cross Cricklewood CPOs: "The decision to block the CPOs on the Aylesbury Estate is good news, but why was it taken?"

Link to 'The Speculation Game'

"Sajid Javid recently made the shock decision to overturn Southwark council's attempt to buy out the last remaining leaseholders in order to begin demolishing the Aylesbury Estate in south London. A shock both because it came from Javid himself (a former investment banker at Deutsche Bank not typically associated as a saviour of social housing) and because it was made on the grounds of 'human rights' despite the wealth of available historical examples where such rights were seemingly of secondary importance.

"Used by Tony Blair as the location for his first speech as Prime Minister and by Channel 4 to depict a damp, dreary scene of satellite dishes and washing lines, the estate has arguably the most turbulent past of any in the UK, pummelled by years of neglect and contempt. The design of the estate has well-known architectural shortcomings, both in the inadequate lifespan of the construction method used and the sheer scale of its resolution. However the issues of estate management, affordability and rehousing of existing tenants go well beyond the discourse of design.

"The question remains as to why this decision was made at all. Is it part of a wider message projected by the new government's initial promises of fighting inequality and social injustice? Is it an attempt to declare allegiance to leaseholders as opposed to social renters? Or, more optimistically, is it the beginning of a fresh view on problematic viability calculations on soon to be developed estates?"