Long-awaited revival scheme for rotting Alton Estate in Roehampton hangs in the balance ahead of crunch vote

Wandsworth Council will ballot residents on new proposals to regenerate the Alton Estate, in Roehampton, after the Labour administration scrapped the original masterplan when it took control of the authority in 2022.

The council has published a revised masterplan for the estate which proposes more affordable homes than before, improved community facilities and a replacement shopping parade. The authority’s cabinet agreed on June 16 to launch a resident ballot on the proposals in September, which will determine how it proceeds.

Under the new masterplan, 167 homes on the estate would be demolished for 614 new homes – including 57 per cent affordable housing. There would be a net increase in social housing, although the exact figure has not been confirmed.

A new community hub with a library, council offices and youth services would be built by the entrance to the estate, which would see its retail parade along Danebury Avenue replaced to include a bigger supermarket than the former Co-op store. A new family hub would be built at the centre of the estate with a relocated nursery, GP surgery and community services. The estate would also get a new community square, outdoor spaces and pedestrian routes.

A report by council officers said: “The scheme directly delivers significant community benefits to Alton residents both by improving the quality and volume of social homes on the estate, by enhancing local infrastructure and by creating facilities which will support service delivery in line with current standards and expectations. It has been designed in consultation with residents and service providers from the public and community sector.”

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A recent viability study commissioned by the council reported that a suitable regeneration scheme could be delivered at a net cost of around £100million, the report added.

The council’s old Conservative administration originally agreed to regenerate the estate in 2012 and submitted a planning application in 2019, which was approved in 2022. It would have seen 288 homes on the estate demolished and replaced, with 1,108 new homes built in total – including 261, or 24 per cent, affordable homes.

But the scheme was pulled before building had begun when Labour took control of the authority for the first time in 44 years in 2022, as the new administration said it did not include enough affordable homes. The council went back to the drawing board to put together revised proposals, which have been developed by officers and recently published.

Many residents have told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) they are desperate to see improvements on the estate. Lib Dem candidate Kieren McCarthy said furious residents had been “treated appallingly for 20 years” at a hustings ahead of the general election last year, when candidates were grilled over the regeneration. “It was the estate of the future,” he said. “It’s been left to rot and it’s an embarrassment.”

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Labour councillor Aydin Dikerdem, Cabinet Member for Housing, said the revised masterplan would be “one of the most ambitious renewal programmes in London, with net additional social housing” at the meeting on June 16. He said it showed the administration’s commitment to providing more social housing and better engaging with residents, adding the council would “only pass a scheme that the community is willing to vote for” in the upcoming ballot.

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Councillor Dikerdem added: “Roehampton has got large social deprivation. It’s an area where the council needs to invest in order to make sure that life chances in Wandsworth are fair, and so it’s really, really important that alongside the housing offer we also have a really good community offer.”

A previous council report said the estate had areas among the 20 per cent most deprived in England, according to research in 2018, and among the 10 per cent most deprived in respect of income and housing.

Eligible residents will be able to vote online, by telephone or by post in the ballot. Voting will open on September 22 and close on October 16. If most residents vote in favour of the scheme, the council aims to submit a planning application in June 2026.