The Guardian: "London housing: improving the theory and practice of densifying estates"

"Arguments for more measured and harmonious approaches to redeveloping the capital’s council estates may be gathering strength"

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"The recent decision by communities secretary Sajid Javid to block Southwark Council's compulsory purchase (CPO) of part of the huge Aylesbury estate in order to completely redevelop it addressed one of the keenest grievances that arise from such 'regeneration' schemes.

In accepting a public inquiry inspector's recommendation not to confirm the CPO, Javid gave particular weight to the interests of resident leaseholders on the estate. A group of them argued that they have been offered far too little financial compensation for having their homes knocked down – nothing like enough to buy a comparable property in the same area, meaning they’d have to move far from their home neighbourhood to somewhere much cheaper and maybe out of London altogether if they want to remain homeowners.

"... London has a chronic housing shortage, especially of the types of homes Londoners on low and middle incomes can afford. It has been argued that a grand scale expunging of estates and their replacement by new 'city villages' on borough-owned public land would enable a transformative net increase in the number of London homes, with no loss of social rented stock, along with wider neighbourhood improvements. But such a radical approach could cause many more problems than it solved. And do its numbers add up in the first place?"

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"A new 'right to a community'? Decision by the Secretary of State not to confirm the CPO for Aylesbury Estate"

"On 16 September 2016, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid, decided not to confirm Southwark Council's compulsory purchase order (CPO) for an area of the Aylesbury Estate.  This is an unexpected decision by Sajid Javid and has been described as "bizarre" by Southwark Council.  There are reports in the press that the Council intends to challenge the decision in the High Court, because they say it jeopardises the entire housing-led regeneration of the Aylesbury Estate.

Javid's decision agreed with the Inspector's recommendation following a CPO inquiry in October 2015.  The CPO would have facilitated the redevelopment of the third parcel of land on the Aylesbury Estate, including demolishing the existing residential units and providing mixed tenure residential development and associated landscaping.

The decision not to confirm the CPO gives more weight to human rights and community issues than we have seen in previous decisions on CPOs.  This effectively raises residents' expectations that they will be able to remain in their community, and the considerations outlined by Javid are now likely to be a significant factor in future CPOs.  The decision also demonstrates some of the tensions involved for the Government when they promise to prioritise housing and regeneration."