A Demolition Notice is used to tell residents that the council is planning to demolish their home in the future. It also explains why this is necessary - in this case to build the more and better homes the borough needs and to confirm legally the November Cabinet decision to partially regenerate the estate. Demolition Notices are issued in two stages:

• Initial Demolition Notices are issued to residents when the local authority is planning to demolish their property within the next seven years but has not yet established when this will happen. It does not mean that demolition work is about to start.
• Final Demolition Notices are issued to residents when the local authority has set a date for the demolition to happen. This notice can only be issued after planning permission has been granted. No demolition can happen until this Notice is issued.

New homes will be more environmentally efficient than existing homes and therefore more cost effective to run with more efficient heating and hot water systems, improved insulation, all of which will contribute to lower costs of running the home. Being newly built homes, there will be much lower levels of capital expenditure required on the properties for many years.

There is, however, a possibility that the Council Tax will be higher than for existing homes on the estates. The council cannot guarantee that monthly outgoings will be lower, but we fully expect them to be. For tenants, rents will still be set in exactly the same way as council rents. As you will be living in a newer property with a higher value, your rent could increase as council level rents are in part calculated using the value of the property itself.

Any increase in rents will be phased in over 5 years and you would still be able to apply for Housing Benefit to cover the rent. There is more information in the council’s Key Guarantees.

To read the report which provides the basis of these values, please click here.

As part of the cabinet decision to carry out a regeneration scheme for your estate, the council made a commitment to enable communities to stay together. To honour this commitment, we are putting in place various options to enable resident homeowners to remain on the estate. These options are part of the Key Guarantees.

However, the council understands that personal circumstances may lead to some homeowners wanting to sell their property to the council before the redevelopment of the estate. In response to requests from homeowners, a number of properties in the regeneration schemes have been bought by the council so far.

Other homeowners have asked us how much their own property may be worth. The table below shows the purchase price agreed with the owners for your information, together with the size and also the loss payment. It does not include information about the disturbance payments made to homeowners and other fees and charges paid for by the council. Please note that you should consider these figures as an indication only of the value of your own property; the value of properties will depend on their characteristics eg size, location, condition and can change over time.

The council will ask its agents to carry out a market valuation of the property. In parallel to this, if you wish, you can obtain your own valuation from another RICS qualified surveyor of your choice. Once the council and you as the homeowner have reached agreement on the value of the property, then the transaction proceeds.

It is expected that the CPO process could take approximately 18 months; however at this stage it is very difficult to say accurately how long it will take.

Once masterplanning on any estate gets underway, the council will involve residents in the drafting of a Local Lettings Plan. This will set out a process and prioritisation system, which will set out how tenants and homeowners can apply for new-built homes. The council’s allocations scheme will still apply.

If you are letting your property then tenants will be your responsibility as their landlord. You will need to give them notice and provide vacant possession of your home to the Council at the required time. The Council will liaise with you and provide you with adequate time to give notice to your tenants according to the tenancy agreement, etc. The Council will not be able to provide accommodation for your tenants. However your tenant could seek assistance and advice from the Council Housing Option Team.

You will need to be a resident at the time that the council submits a planning application for the masterplan for the rebuilt estate and to remain a resident from that time until the council seeks to acquire your property.

The council is under no obligation to provide non-resident homeowners with a new home. Lambeth is experiencing an extreme housing shortage. The council cannot, therefore, offer non-resident homeowners an ability to acquire a new home for anything other than full market value. Where new homes are built for market sale, then non-resident homeowners will be able to acquire one of the new properties at full market value.  The Key Guarantees provide for the acquisition of non-resident homeowner properties at market value plus 7.5% homeloss payment. The Council will not be compensating you for any loss of rental income.