have escaped the people of the Elephant, (as it did the community of Somers Town, an area of North London in the 1980s) as new and ongoing development plans seem to have destroyed any hope of such stability. The government has announced more details of its NewBuy Guarantee, designed by the Home Builders Federation and the Council of Mortgage Lenders, to give potential buyers access to mortgages even with only a 5% deposit. Apparently three high-street lenders and seven construction firms have agreed to endorse and support the scheme. Ministers believe this initiative will help 100,000 people who would otherwise have been frozen out of the property market. The NewBuy scheme is only available on flats and houses up to a maximum value of ÂŁ500,000 applicable only to England. With the reintroduction of these policies, Cameron stresses that by rebooting the Right
to Buy scheme, the government is delivering its promise to offer affordable mortgages to buyers who might not otherwise have the means to buy a home. Jack Dromey, shadow-housing minister, recently dismissed this announcement as “too little too late.� However, at least the policy is something from a government that has done little to tackle the worst housing crisis in a generation. Meanwhile for the old residents pictured here, this is an interim period where they can mourn the loss of their old community, while looking forward to a time in the future when they might return and enjoy the proposed common green space and the summer shade of the trees, or simply move on though, and ghost in the mean time. p A view of the brightly coloured new homes that have been recently built, as a result of regeneration in the Elephant.
field of view
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