Custom House resident takes Mayor to High Court

Temporary Accommodation resident takes London Mayor to High Court over plans to reduce social rent homes on Newham estate

On 27 January 2025 a temporary accommodation resident who lives in Custom House and is part of local campaign group People’s Empowerment Alliance for Custom House (PEACH) issued a claim at the High Court seeking to challenge the Mayor’s decision, accusing him of failing to adequately scrutinise Newham’s plans or consider concerns of residents.

“These plans will result in the unnecessary demolition of council homes set at social and council rents, replacing them with “ affordable rent” homes under the guise of ‘social homes’ when in fact these homes will be out of reach for working families residing on the estate.” 

PEACH member, Boglarka 

This follows a decision by the Mayor on 16 December 2024 to allow Newham Council to proceed with granting permission to controversial plans which will see most homes in the first phase of the Custom House regeneration demolished. 

Background 

PEACH has been fighting against the gentrification of Custom House for the last decade including being engaged in a co-production process with Newham Council and developing an alternative regeneration plan. Despite Newham’s claims that this plan was the first genuinely co-produced project designed with the community, PEACH say the Council ignored their letter contesting the validity of the demolition.

On 17 October 2023, Newham’s planning committee resolved to approve a masterplan for Custom House phase one which included: “…demolition of existing buildings and the erection of a phased development of:- up to 650 new, replacement or retrofitted homes.” This resolution was subject to a decision from the Mayor of London to allow Newham, who is also the developer in this matter, to proceed. 

 
This decision comes after a 2022 resident ballot, which was strongly critiqued by the community, with only a narrow outcome in favour of plans set in a Landlord Offer (53% vs 47%, and only a 63% turnout). 

“Me and my neighbours are all very confused. Some people have been told the buildings are coming down and others haven’t heard anything. We are waking up every day, taking our kids to school and not knowing if we will lose our homes tomorrow.” 

PEACH member and Phase 1 resident Haddy 

On 6 December 2024 Newham referred this committee-approved application to the Mayor of London, who has decided to allow Newham to proceed. It is anticipated that the council will rubberstamp and proceed with demolition plans any day now. PEACH members believe that a letter they submitted to the Mayor in August 2024, which raised key issues, was not considered. The letter highlighted:  

1. the social and environmental costs of the proposed demolition;

1. the potential loss of social rent homes, referencing an FOI response showing higher right-of-return figures than those recorded by the Local Planning Authority;

1. the decades of uncertainty faced by temporary tenants like the Claimant and

1. problems with the resident ballot process.

Saskia O’Hara, legal caseworker from Public Interest Law Centre, states: 

“The Mayor plays a central role in reviewing estate redevelopment plans and ensuring local authorities comply with policy. However, as this case highlights, plans can be insufficiently scrutinised and result in the loss of social and council rent homes, replaced by higher-cost housing that places a significant burden on the existing community and all Londoners grappling with the housing crisis. This case reflects a key concern among many estate residents —not how many homes are being built, but how affordable those homes will be.” 

The Challenge: 

The Claimant is arguing that the Mayor failed to adequately scrutinise Newham’s plans in accordance with the London Plan, The Mayor’s Good Practice Guidance to Estate Regeneration or the Landlord Offer approved by residents. They contend that the Mayor mistakenly believes two nearby ‘kickstart’ sites will deliver social rent homes, whereas they are actually being offered at the higher-cost London Affordable Rent. The Greater London Authority does not consider Affordable Rent products to be “genuinely affordable rent” and has removed the previous caps that existed in relation to London Affordable Rent.

This error will impact like-for-like reprovision of homes which will be demolished under plans and could see a sizeable reduction in desperately needed social rent homes. 

Additional arguments include that the Mayor failed to conduct a lawful consultation due to PEACH’s letter being seemingly ignored, failed to grapple with an FOI response which presented much higher ‘right to return’ figures than Newham presented (121 vs 29) and did not ensure that the plans would consist of a range of unit sizes to address the housing needs of the local area – in reality, campaigners say there is a great need for larger 3, 4, 5 bed units which have not been provided.

This claim for judicial review has been issued at Court and the Claimant is awaiting the Mayor’s initial response to legal arguments.

The Claimant is represented by Alexandra Goldenberg and Saskia O’Hara of the Public Interest Law Centre, and Jeremy Ogilvie-Harris of Cornerstone Barristers