07
June
2013
|
11:01
Europe/London

Response to allegations about Colville Estate

On 7 June, the free Metro newspaper published a story which alleged that Hackney Council was offering to buy the homes of leaseholders on the Colville Estate at below-market value prices, and that they would be unable to afford to stay living on the estate. Here’s the response:

Cllr Philip Glanville, Cabinet Member for Hackney Homes and Regeneration Estates, Hackney Council
Far from being priced out of London, from the very start we have made sure that leaseholders will be able to stay living at Colville if they wish, through a range of offers of shared equity and shared ownership. This means that the Council will pay home loss compensation of 10% of the market value of a resident leaseholder’s home, and also enable them to live rent-free until their new home on Colville is built. The market value of their current home and future home is determined on the day a leaseholder agrees to take a shared ownership or shared equity home, to make sure they benefit from any increase in value in the intervening time. Just to be clear, the offers we made for leaseholders' existing properties are based on the market values provided by an expert surveyor appointed by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, an appointment agreed by the leaseholders, and wholly independent of either us or the leaseholders' own valuations. For example, with a current home worth £200,000 and a future home valued at £300,000, a leaseholder will continue to own 66% of the future home’s value even if it goes up to, say, £350,000 in the intervening period the property takes to build. For reference, if a leaseholder chooses the shared equity option they will also not pay rent on the proportion of the property owned by the Council and share in any future increases in value of their new home. There is no need for anyone to feel they are being forced out of Colville or Hoxton with nowhere to go. All Colville residents, whether leaseholders or tenants, deserve high quality new homes to replace the ageing, unfit for purpose homes on the current estate, and leaseholders now have an opportunity to exchange their current home for a brand new one in their community, on a new Colville designed with residents and losing none of the value of their investment while remaining in the area in the meantime. I hope this addresses any confusion around the matter. The same offers apply to leaseholders of all Hackney regeneration estates in the borough.
Cllr Philip Glanville, Cabinet Member for Hackney Homes and Regeneration Estates, Hackney Council