For a year and a bit I lived in a flat off the Walworth Road, and every morning and evening I would walk the half a mile between Elephant & Castle tube station and home. On one side was the “mugger’s paradise” Heygate Estate, on the other, the Carbuncle Cup-winning Strata SE1. For many reasons, I always preferred the look of the former over the latter.
At the time I’d heard there were only seven people left living in flats there, and the mostly-derelict estate was probably mostly known to non-locals as a setting for films like World War Z and Attack The Block, and the TV shows Luther and Spooks. Steel panels went up, over time, to stop the curious from taking walks around the abandoned buildings, or enjoying the views from the roofs. The Heygate may have still been a home for some, but the world outside treated it as a dead space. Photographers, explorers, and free runners loved it.
- Price paid by Lend Lease for 22-acre Heygate Estate site: £55m
- Price paid for nearby Oakmayne/Tribeca Square 1.5-acre site: £40m
- Expected total cost to Southwark Council for evicting residents: £65.5m
- Previous estimate of cost to refurbish Heygate Estate to modern standard: £35m
- Expected profit from sales for Lend Lease: £194m
- Expected profit from sales for Southwark Council: £0
- Average compensation given to leaseholders of one bedroom flat: £95,480
- Average compensation given to leaseholders of four bedroom flats: £177,421
- Lowest price unit in new development (one bedroom flat): £310,000
- Number of social-rented units in Heygate Estate: 1,200
- Number of social-rented units in new development: 79
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