Overview

To effect real change in a community, you need strong partnerships. The Homes & Communities Academy Award for Leadership of Place recognises organisations that have formed and led effective local partnerships to regenerate an area.

The judges were looking for a group that had driven the transformation of a place, creating somewhere residents want to live, locals want to work and visitors want to experience.

The winning organisation had to build a consensus for their vision and establish partnerships to deliver it. They also have to demonstrate that the transformation is sustainable after the project has finished.

Green Horizons Housing is the 2009 winner in the Leadership of Place category for their regeneration of three housing sites in Edmonton Green, Enfield.

The £100 million regeneration was driven by a partnership of two large Registered Social Landlords (RSLs), London & Quadrant (LQ) and Metropolitan Housing Trust. They joined forces in 1995, pooling their experience and resources to create Green Horizons – which, said our judges, was a “unique partnership between RSLs and local people”.

Building a consensus for change wasn’t easy, since many residents didn’t speak English as a first language. Surveys showed they did have something in common; they were tired of the lack of security, run-down facilities and social problems that plagued their estates.

To regenerate the area, Green Horizons replaced four tower blocks containing 734 homes; refurbished 500 homes in three tower blocks; built 271 new homes with gardens and built a further two new developments with more than 450 homes.

The project also found new ways to bring the community together and improve residents’ skills by organising events and training. Our judges commented that Green Horizons “completed the physical regeneration of the estate, while staying committed socially.”

The project team involved residents through multi-lingual newsletters, activities and informal meetings. One of the projects’ biggest successes was the creation of a formal community board, where residents could help shape the project. The board, which has since been replicated in other housing projects, still exists today as a residents’ forum.

» Background

Background

Enfield in North London is often thought of as leafy suburban area; Edmonton Green to the south east of the Borough is a different story. Before Green Horizons, the area was known for prostitution, drugs, vandalism and anti-social behaviour. Housing was in disrepair and many residents lacked skills for employment, depended on benefits and suffered from health problems.

A survey of Edmonton Green’s Barbot estate tenants in 1997 showed high levels of dissatisfaction. Residents complained about vandalism, crime and poor conditions of properties and the surrounding environment.

For the London Borough of Enfield, the cost of maintaining the estates was high. The Environment Department sponsored a survey into stock options and found that, if left untreated, the estates would need £30 million of maintenance over the next 30 years, with a substantial sum of money needed immediately for urgent repairs.

In 1995, the Borough launched a competition to find a solution to problems associated with the housing estates in the area, which were in desperate need of regeneration.

Registered social landlords (RSLs) London and Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q) and Metropolitan Housing Trust (MHT) won the competition in 1997, working together as Green Horizons.

A year later, residents of the estates voted in favour of proposals to transfer their homes to Green Horizons and in 1999 work on the estates began. The properties have now been divided and returned to the individual control of two RSLs.

Green Horizons kept going after the project finished, running a local neighbourhood office. The partnership now funds a renewal programme, focusing on tackling local unemployment and anti-social behaviour.

» The Project

Overview «

The Project

The £100 million Edmonton Green project, which began in 1999, aimed to regenerate three run-down areas of housing through redevelopment. It also sought to improve community cohesion and tackle the social problems the estates were prone too by improving security and making people feel prouder of their homes and providing homes.

Regeneration involved:
• replacing 734 homes in four tower blocks (Barbot estates)
• building 272 new low-rise homes with gardens
• building two new developments (Plevna and Montagu Road), with 458 homes
• refurbishing of three tower blocks, containing more than 500 homes

To fund the project, Green Horizons used a mixture of investment and loans from their RSL associations as well as a social housing grant, a grant from English Partnerships (£1.9 million) and income from the sale of property.

New homes were spacious, high quality and energy efficient to help reduce bills and promote low carbon living. They incorporated best practice in secure design and were close to private or communal green space.

In existing developments, Green Horizons redesigned communal areas, opened a reception with 24-hour concierge service, installed CCTV and replaced bathrooms, kitchens and front doors.

Green Horizons worked with Council to bring new cycle and pedestrian routes, as part of a wider regeneration programme in Edmonton Green.

£70,000 of the budget was set aside for enhancing the community over the life of the project. This involved 45 projects including gardening activities, a homework club, English as Second Language (ESOL) classes, trips to other housing sites and community fun days such as ‘demolition day’.

Residents were involved in the project through consultation meetings. Drop-in sessions with an interpreter were organised for those who spoke only basic English, and literature printed in different languages.

They helped shape the project through a community board, where they could feed back to local councillors and their MP and contribute to decisions, such as selecting contractors.

» The Impact

Background «

The Impact

Green Horizons has built 796 new homes across three sites, vastly improving the quality of life for residents.

Fewer people are moving away (community turnover rates have settled at less then three per cent and there have been fewer requests for residents to move off the estates) and incidences of vandalism and serious crime involving drugs and prostitution have declined.

The towers are no longer “no-go-areas” says John Joannoiu, operations manager of L&Q Housing Trust. “By working in partnership with the Metropolitan Police to evict serious offenders, we sent a clear message to residents that we wouldn’t tolerate crime.”

Residents also feel like they are getting a good service from their RSL. Maria Collins, a council tenant on the estate for 12 years before moving into her new home in 2001, said: “The rents haven’t gone up and there’s a much better repairs services,” she says. “They’ve kept all their promises”.

Maria also welcomes the hands on approach of Green Horizons staff. “I never even knew who my housing officer was before,” she said. “Now I know who they area and I know I can go to them any time to discuss anything.”

Residents feel more empowered over their futures. Frank Chersky, a resident who sits on the award-winning Green Horizons community board, said: “The board turned out to be a new model of local management with residents at its heart. This model has since been copied on a number of other major housing projects.”

The project has been particularly successful at engaging and empowering non-English tenants, winning praise from national bodies including the Housing Corporation and from residents themselves.

Sevim Dogan, Chair of the Kurdish &Turkish residents of Enfield, said. “It’s helped me build my confidence. As result I am now a governor of a primary school.”

Though the project ended in 2006, the work of Green Horizons did not. The two RSLs continue to work together and with training providers to help residents improve their lives through training, education and support services including youth mentoring programmes, English classes, and funding for community projects.

The housing regeneration is also proving to be a catalyst for wider community growth in leisure and retail.

One year on  and John Joannou, Operations Manager says  'This year has presented some real challenges, especially around the end of the rent guarantee for the residents who transferred from the Local Authority. The continued consultation and work with the Community Board has shaped our approach to this and meant residents views were genuinely taken into account. In addition, looking at the wider area we have supported the Council in its plans to extend the area covered by the Edmonton Partnership Initiative because its so successful. At the heart of all this is the drive to keep a focus on providing excellent services at a local level.

Reaching out to the Turkish  speaking community-  We understand and are committed in continuing to support this project. In Feb we supported KATRE in organising an  awards evening.  There was a selection of musical performances from  young people and over 300 parents and friends attended. 24 young people were awarded with certificates from the Royal College of Music. 

We continue to fund the free twice weekly drop in service so that residents can discuss their housing issues with an interpreter.  This project has benefited not only the residents but also us as we have fast access to a service and all residents are aware of KATRE which has created an efficient service.

Halit Firat, KATRE's secretary ""Thank you for being a good support and help throughout the years and we wouldn't of been able to conduct our drop- in assistance & interpreting service without it. It is not only the funding provided but also your support for managing & disseminating the project as well as securing additional funding.

This year we have trained  24 children in preparing and recording their musical skills and they also had the opportunity of displaying their skills when we held the awards evening at the Millfield Theatre in Enfield. We believe we provide valuable services for our community which wouldn't have been done without your support.

Funding is currently being sought to deliver an 18 month creative arts project exploring the heritage of Edmonton. The project will bring residents of all ages and communities together to explore individual and cultural heritage through a major programme of intergenerational work.  It will include: 8 reminiscence projects, 30 filmed and recorded interviews, a touring exhibition, a large scale community theatre production, and a documentary on the project, to be premiered at the national film theatre.  The project will start in September 2010 if funding  is approved.

» Lessons Learned

The Project «

Lessons Learned

As well as ensuring that successful structures, such as the Community Board, are maintained the team are also looking for new ways to engage the residents. Proposed projects such as the creative art project will ensure that residents maintain their sense of pride in their community.The regeneration of the estates and partnership working helped both RSLs develop best practice they can replicate on other schemes.

One of the key lessons was the importance of involving residents. “Never underestimate the power of the community to take on new ideas and contribute to them,” said John Joannou, Operations Director from L&Q housing trust.

“We experienced some resistance from residents about transferring over to Green Horizons,” he explained. “To combat this we made sure residents were informed and involved about developments and benefits.”

The team did this through consultations, meetings, organised activities and fun days. They also produced quarterly newsletters and leaflets. Staff members were on site to talk to residents.

The formation of the local community board with decision-making powers to review the project every month was crucial to the success of the scheme. The model has since become the blueprint for other regeneration schemes.

The project team had to pay particular attention to hard to reach groups, including young people, the elderly and Turkish-speaking residents, many of whom did not have the English skills to be able to report things like repairs.

“We realised we needed to identify of the hard to reach communities and act quickly to ensure all residents were involved,” explained John.

To connect with Turkish residents, Green Horizons offered drop-in sessions, English language classes and brought in a Turkish-speaking outreach worker.

To engage young people, many of whom were not interested attending meetings, the team held events so that young people could participate in designing play areas. They catered for older people by running relevant activities and inviting to them to day meetings, which included lunch.

The project team soon realised that involving residents during the lifespan of the project was not enough; they needed to set up a support system for the future.

As well as the regular meeting of the Community Board, Green Horizons has retained a local office to offer support to residents and to provide an informal forum for them to voice concerns. “It doesn’t matter whether your landlord is L&Q or MHT or you’re young, old or in the Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) community,” said John, “all ideas are welcome at our office.”

» Reference

The Impact «

Reference

London & Quadrant housing association
Osborn House
Osborn Terrace
London SE3 9DR

Diane Hart
Director of neighbourhood services

dhart@lqgroup.org.uk

0844 406 9000
www.lqgroup.org.uk

Metropolitan Housing Trust
Alexander Place
Lower Park Road
London N11 1QD

mhtlondon@mht.co.uk

020 8976 1000
www.mht.co.uk

Lessons Learned «