Reclaiming Regeneration in London

Building community power for affordable housing

When: 2016 – 2018

Where: London, UK

Who was involved: Citizens UK, The East London Citizens Organisation (TELCO), London Community Land Trust

Caroline, a 51-year-old resident of Redbridge in London, is a secondary school teacher and a community organiser with The East London Citizens Organisation (TELCO), part of the Citizens UK network. Passionate about her local community, she has campaigned on key issues such as inequality, housing, jobs, and wages throughout her life. Caroline’s goal is to ensure everyone has access to affordable housing and to give local people a voice in the changes happening in their borough.

The challenges Caroline and her neighbours faced were intensified by the 2012 Olympics, which led to reduced access to secure housing, legacy developments, and increased displacement into Redbridge. They also struggled to understand the processes of development and regeneration, making it difficult to influence decisions that deeply affected their lives.

In 2016, Caroline attended a series of workshops called ‘Reclaiming Regeneration’, co-organised by Architecture Sans Frontières UK and TELCO. These sessions brought together TELCO community organisers from Redbridge, Newham, Hackney, and Tower Hamlets, along with experts from ASF-UK, who shared valuable insights into UK planning and urban regeneration.

Over six weeks, participants explored key topics such as home and housing, inclusive regeneration, and action planning. The workshops included interactive activities like role-playing and mapping, all designed to deepen participants’ understanding of local planning issues. Each session resulted in a set of practical action plans tailored to the specific needs of each area.

The blend of local passion and knowledge from TELCO members, combined with the expertise of ASF-UK Associates, was transformative. Participants left the workshops feeling more confident and capable of engaging with development processes in their communities. They learned how to negotiate effectively with local decision-makers and developers. This empowerment led to tangible changes: TELCO members became more energised, local housing teams grew stronger, and new affordable housing campaigns emerged. Additionally, the creation of adaptable training materials benefited other communities in East London.

After the training, Redbridge Citizens successfully secured political commitment for 250 Community Land Trust (CLT) homes. Buoyed by this achievement and broader support for affordable housing, Caroline and her fellow organisers identified a site for Redbridge’s first CLT development. They launched a campaign around this site but initially found it challenging to articulate the community’s needs beyond just affordable housing.

To address this, ASF-UK collaborated with TELCO and London CLT to provide technical support. Residents, planners, and architects worked together to create a community-led housing brief based on five key design principles. This helped the community clearly express their needs and aspirations.

In December 2021, London CLT received planning approval for the first CLT homes in Redbridge, offering affordable housing linked to local incomes and protected for the long term. Moreover, political commitment for four additional sites in the borough was secured, helping to safeguard communities from displacement and gentrification. A dedicated housing campaign now advocates for the rights of local marginalised communities.

The workshops with TELCO members and ASF-UK, along with the relationships built with local politicians and authorities, laid a solid foundation for the movement towards secure and affordable communityled housing in East London. The approach used in Redbridge can be replicated elsewhere, supporting communities in preventing or mitigating the displacement of middle- and low-income households.

In numbers

The Reclaiming Regeneration course ran for six months and was attended by 30 housing organisers from TELCO, representing a total of 50,000 people across East London.