WEE EXCLUSIVE - Peabody Housing Association seals Millbank estate deal with Crown Estate - Terms of tenants’ leases ‘will stay exactly the same as now’

Published: 14 January 2011
EXCLUSIVE by DAN CARRIER

MULTI-million pound contracts between the Crown Estate and housing association Peabody have been exchanged and will see homes in Westminster handed over in the coming weeks.

The sale of the homes in the Millbank estate, Pimlico, has been at the centre of a ferocious war between the landlords and tenants, who did not want their homes sold from under them.

This week the Crown’s board rubber-stamped the deal, and in an exclusive interview with the West End Extra, the body’s urban asset manager James Cooksey defended the heavily criticised conduct of the Crown during the two-year period when they touted the homes round for sale.

Mr Cooksey said they had listened carefully to what the tenants wanted and the result was that Peabody, which manages more than 17,000 affordable homes in London, would take over some time in the spring. 

He also vowed that the terms of the tenants’ leases would be “exactly the same” as they are now.

He said: “We went through two rounds of consultation and there was no question in the first round that the feedback was people were very happy with the Crown Estate. 

“When we asked them what their concerns over a possible sale were they said rent levels, the break-up of the community and length of tenure. The board addressed all of these issues and the current terms will now be transferred to Peabody.”

He also defended how the sale had been managed. They had been criticised for launching “Project Blue,” a top-secret, board-level, plan to see how much the estate and three others in London could fetch on the open market behind the backs of the people who live there.

Mr Cooksey said: “We went into consultation at the point when there was something to talk about. It would not have been right to do it any sooner.”

Mr Cooksey confirmed that private property developers had made inquiries but would not be drawn on names or figures. 

It has been reported that speculative landlord group Grainger were interested and there were offers tabled of £250million. He said: “We have expressions of interest from big private and registered social landlords.” 

He would not confirm the final sale price.

Mr Cooksey also defended the fact that the Crown had decided to turn its back on more than 80 years of managing the estate in Westminster to invest cash elsewhere. Currently they are in the process of renovating swathes of offices and shops in Regent Street. 

He said the decision to become more commercially minded and seek a balance sheet result in place of the social value of offering affordable homes to pensioners, teachers, nurses and other public servants was a natural progression . 

He said: “Every business reviews what it does, and its assets, from time to time. We felt we were not specialists in this area and that there were people better placed to do this better than us. We went to the market to see if there was interest for our estates, and our opinion is this is a great outcome for all, and the UK taxpayer will benefit from it too. We are sorry for the disruption and people feeling unsettled.”