Jacqueline Esimaje-Heath, Director for Growth & Sales at L&Q, advocates for a holistic approach to estate regeneration that prioritises being adaptable and working together with residents, local authorities, and their communities.  

 

There has never been a better a time to talk about estate regeneration than now. With the government’s ambitious 1.5m homes target and the Mayor of London announcing £11.7bn to deliver the new Social and Affordable Homes Programme 2026-2036, regeneration has to be one of our top considerations. Particularly in London, where land is both scarce and expensive, and project viability remains a concern.  

But to harness that opportunity and secure the funding we need, we can’t be afraid of having the difficult conversations – with residents, with planners, and sometimes, with our colleagues. 

This means that we have to appreciate that, sometimes, what we have planned – and what we think we know – doesn’t always marry up with residents’ expectations,  their lived experience or their aspirations.  As a housing association with a social purpose, we always have to think about the residents of today…and of tomorrow.  And, ultimately, while we all want to get residents on board, we need to prioritise doing what’s right over what’s easy. 

In other words, any early planning needs to first consider who lives on each estate and truly understand – rather than prescribe – the local need. What might a beneficial offer to residents really look like?  And then following through with well-conceived redevelopment and regeneration, and ensuring those benefits are actually realised. Bonus points if they get delivered early on in the programme. 

Households on our estates could be experiencing severe overcrowding, or a lack of private amenity spaces, homes fallen into disrepair or housing structure or fabric that just isn’t workable by modern standards – or a combination of all of these issues. So our beneficial offer to residents could include something more or something different, but will always mean something better. 

This mindset has informed L&Q’s strategic approach to regeneration and it has allowed us to support the creation of successful and thriving communities across a number of London Boroughs. 

While we can’t claim to have found the panacea, I am very proud of some of our recent regeneration schemes, a few of which have also been featured in this insight study. In particular, I’m proud of the community-centric approach our team have taken in ensuring that regeneration is done with – not done to – residents. And that we have carefully weighed-up all options before putting spades in the ground. 

On our largest and most ambitious estate regeneration scheme to date, Acton Gardens, carried out in partnership with Ealing Council and Vistry, we have regularly been surveying residents and actively amending our plans – based on their feedback. From placemaking, to community investment and social value deliverables. 

The latest such survey was published earlier this year, and it unequivocally showed that the regeneration is having a meaningful and positive impact on the lives of residents in South Acton.  

A clear majority of residents at Acton Gardens support the regeneration and feel it is improving their quality of life - a feeling which has increased year on year since the start of the first phase of the project. Residents report significantly better wellbeing, reduced safety concerns, and improved perceptions of the built environment compared to those in the older estate. Moreover, the themes of community cohesion and integration were recurrent in the report’s findings. 

This has come after over 12 years of intense work in the area, not only in delivering the proposed 3,463 homes at Acton Gardens, but also supporting the building of a successful, resilient neighbourhood. And that is how success should be measured.  

Estate regeneration, as a six-word-story, is absolutely about: better homes, better services, better futures. However, successful estate regeneration is about more than providing new and improved homes. It’s about having the difficult conversations, being open and adaptable, listening and then working together with residents, local authorities and their communities to create places that can help them to live better lives.