We, the residents of Denby Court demand:

• Guarantees of permanent secure homes at social rent for all the families living in Denby Court.
• Proper consultation and a ballot of residents.
• A cost/benefit analysis for refurbishing, instead of demolishing Denby Court.
• An option to return to revised development.

Lambeth Council plans to demolish low-rise Denby Court in our iconic Lambeth Walk, currently home to 42 local families, to replace it with 144 apartments, with two monstrous tower blocks. Only 39 of these flats will be at truly affordable social rents.

The impact it will have on families being torn apart, disrupting our children’s education by having to move schools, starting our lives all over again and destroying our livelihoods! Other services on site. like the Day Care Centre facilities for people with learning disabilities including adults with profound and multiple disabilities have not been considered, we should not be losing these valued services from the community. 

We, the residents have contributed and been part of this community for a long time. We have built great relationships within our community and will continue doing so. Our children go to the local schools which we trust and are proud of, they’ve spent their developmental years in this area and should be allowed to maintain that attachment, we shouldn’t have to remove them because Lambeth Council keep removing our local social housing stock, at alarming rates. They (Lambeth Council) state they have nowhere to house us in the immediate area as they don’t have the housing stock, yet see fit to build another development which will house majority private investors, not family homes and definitely not for us, the homeless families they have a duty to house.  

During the three years we have been living here, we reside under very poor conditions, smoke alarms don't work in most of the flats, terrible damp and condensation, rodent/vermin infestations, rotting woodwork and holes in the brickwork. 

This has put a strain on all the residents financially and mentally as the Council has not done anything to fix these issues, yet we have continued to pay our rent and live like second class citizens because Lambeth Council do not care and ensure our social housing system is unfit for purpose. 

We’re not against new homes, but they must be built for people in housing need and with our SE11 community in mind. All we ask, is to be treated fairly, we won't stand to be thrown from one temporary accommodation to another our families deserve permanent accommodation. 

#saveourcommunitySE11  #stoptheblocks  #gentrificationisnotforall  #homesforall