Lambeth Moves to Spare Central Hill and Cressingham Gardens From Demolition

Two low-rise council estates in south London, both under threat of demolition for more than a decade, may get to stay standing. Lambeth Council announced on October 14 that proposals to take Central Hill and Cressingham Gardens out of its redevelopment program will go to its Cabinet on October 21.¹

Instead of knocking the estates down, the council would maintain the existing homes, bring empty properties back into use and respect the borough’s architectural heritage.¹ The decision is not final until Cabinet votes, though the proposals come from the council’s leadership and are backed by its cabinet members.

For the people who live there, that vote could end years of wondering whether their homes have a future. Central Hill, in Crystal Palace, had 318 social-rent homes.³ Cressingham Gardens, beside Brockwell Park, has 306 dwellings.⁵

“These proposals end years of uncertainty and put the focus where it belongs: repairing homes, supporting communities and filling empty properties.”

That was Cllr Pete Elliott, Lambeth’s cabinet member for housing, in the council’s announcement.¹

Why the plans are changing

Council officers concluded that fully redeveloping Central Hill and Cressingham Gardens was financially unviable.¹

The proposals also follow a change at the top. Since the May 2026 local elections, no party has had overall control of Lambeth Council. The Greens, as the largest party, formed a cabinet in June with Martin Abrams as leader.²

The estate renewal program used to be run by a company called Homes for Lambeth. The 2022 Kerslake Review recommended closing that company, and the program was brought back inside the council.¹ In early 2023, after the review called for a fundamental reset, Lambeth paused redevelopment at Central Hill, Cressingham Gardens and the Fenwick estate.³⁴

A long fight at both estates

Lambeth first commissioned plans for Central Hill in 2014. In 2017 it decided renovation would cost too much and chose redevelopment. One building, Truslove House, was demolished in November 2021.³

Before this year’s election, the plan was to replace the estate with 1,200 new properties. Under the council’s targets, the number of social-rent homes would have risen by just two.³ That is a great deal of construction for one extra pair of front doors.

Cressingham Gardens was designed by Lambeth Borough Council architects led by Edward Hollamby, and the council proposed demolishing it in 2012.⁵ Residents answered in 2016 with the Cressingham People’s Plan, their own alternative to demolition. In July 2019 their Right to Transfer application, to move the estate into a community-owned company, was approved.⁴

Other estates in the plan

The announcement covers more than these two. The council proposes taking a third estate, Knights Walk, out of the redevelopment program as well. It would work with residents on the Westbury estate, review options for the Fenwick Estate and develop options for the South Lambeth estate.¹

“We can build the homes Lambeth needs without erasing the best of what earlier generations created.”

That line came from Cllr Scott Ainslie, cabinet member for property, planning and development, in the council’s announcement. The proposals also set out a new approach to building council and social homes.¹

What happens next

Residents will get a letter, and updates will appear on each estate’s website before the Cabinet meeting on October 21.¹ These residents have seen plans for their estates paused before, so the reprieve becomes secure only once Cabinet votes.

“This is a decisive moment for Central Hill and Cressingham Gardens,” council leader Cllr Martin Abrams said in the announcement.¹