Residents on the the Lesnes Estate in Bexley, southeast London, say the estate is plagued with issues, including infestations of mice, cockroaches, and mould
Residents of a London estate say they’ve been “left to rot” in a cockroach-infested building set to be demolished to make room for nearly 2,000 shiny new homes.
According to locals of the Lesnes Estate in Thamesmead, Bexley, the site is plagued with issues, from infestations of mice, cockroaches, and mould – to fly-tipping and littering as kitchens are being ripped out to prepare the building for demolition. The issue was brought up during the Mayor of London’s Question Time on January 16 – where Green’s Zoë Garbett AM said she had recently visited the site.
As part of a wider redevelopment scheme, Bexley Council granted outline planning permission in October 2022 for Peabody to build 1,950 new flats on the estate. But while the building was partially empty, there were still 200 residents living there, MyLondon reports. The Assembly Member expressed concerns about how such regeneration projects could disrupt the tight-knit communities formed in local areas.
Ms Garbett AM said at the meeting: “You’ve got residents living next to boarded-up houses. When the people move out, the kitchens are torn out and they are sometimes just left on the estate. The walls have been knocked down, there’s lots of fly-tipping and littering. Mice, cockroaches, damp and mould but all these issues haven’t been picked up and looked at.”
She added: “They feel like they have been left to rot with this stress and uncertainty that’s hanging over them as well.”
The resident put forward a petition to the Mayor to halt the next stage of the area’s redevelopment. The Mayor responded by saying he was aware that estate regeneration could be disruptive for residents. He said: “I will undertake today to get my Deputy Mayor for Housing to look into this issue, but also to work with you, Zoë, to see what we can do to try and ameliorate some of the circumstances that many of [the residents] are living under.”
Maria Ivanova, 72, who has lived on the Lesnes Estate since 2007, previously said rubbish had accumulated more and more in public areas in recent times. She said: “It’s stressful. I’m not getting younger, although I’m trying to take care of my health… I don’t know what I will do when they decide to demolish the house.”
In a statement shared with MyLondon, a spokesperson for Peabody said keeping the Lesnes Estate in good order was a main priority for the trust. They added that staff from the housing association had already met with several residents and walked through the estate with them to listen to their concerns and ensure they were being addressed.
The spokesperson said: “Our teams work on the estate daily and our wardens regularly patrol the area. We’ve cleared fly-tipping from several gardens in recent months, and we’re issuing fines to anyone found to be illegally dumping rubbish. In September, we hosted a meeting with the council to address residents’ concerns around waste collection.”
They added: “We’ve always been happy to talk to the residents about any concerns they may have and are here to support them through the regeneration process.”