Love Lane estate, Haringey
Love Lane estate was built in the early 1960s and has 297 homes. Regeneration plans for the High Road West scheme were approved by Haringey Council’s cabinet in December 2014, this included the demolition of the Love Lane estate. Haringey Council served an Initial Demolition Notice to residents on the estate in February 2015 and the Council began rehousing secure council tenants and moving in temporary tenants – there are now 180 temporary tenants on the estate (temporary tenants can be removed quickly in the run up to demolition).
A ballot took place in September 2021 in which 69% of ‘eligible’ residents voted, of which 55% supported the demolition of their homes and 45% did not. This represents just 39% of residents on the estate who were eligible to vote and did so - hardly a convincing mandate..
T.A.G.
A live campaign by Love Lane Team TAG (Temporary Accomodation group) is striving to protect the rights of temporary tenants.
Read about Team TAG's struggleFor more information see the following articles:
Residents' group on Tottenham estate slams housing offer. (Enfield Independent)
Interview with resident Joanna Morrison
Under the wrecking ball: hundreds of homeless families placed in housing slated for demolition. (The Guardian)
Residents near Tottenham's new stadium fear they're being 'pushed out of area'. (Mirror)
Research Interviews
Key themes discussed in the interviews:
- Love Lane residents state that there has been a lack of clear information about the regeneration of their estate, despite some council tenants being moved out several years ago and temporary tenants being moved into these vacated properties.
- Those with temporary tenancies are very fearful, they feel especially disregarded and vulnerable to displacement.
- Long term residents on Love Lane felt that there had been intentional degeneration of the estate (managed decline).
- Those interviewed felt that the area is changing into a different, more middle-class demographic.
- Long term housing affordability in the Tottenham area is a shared concern.
- A common mistrust towards Haringey Council and its leadership was voiced; interviewees often referenced the failed Haringey Development Vehicle (HDV) scheme, the displacement and treatment of Latin Village, and the dominance of the new Tottenham Hotspur's Stadium on the area.
Here is what some people said...
Love lane estate resident
Temporary council tenant
"[...] We don’t know anything. We, our future is still uncertain because we haven’t gotten any clear message. Unless you get a clear message, you cannot plan for your future, you don’t understand what’s going to happen. So you need a clear message, you need better planning on the part of the Council, so that people do feel a sense of security in the days to come."
Love lane estate resident
Council tenant
"So that was another thing, that it [the estate] was being left, sort of thing, and you get that overall feeling of just slow decay."
Love lane estate resident
Temporary Council tenant
"I can't afford it [private sector rent] … to pay [£]1,800 for two-bedroom flats, it is impossible. And then, they are helping you, the housing benefits covering 65%, and the rest we have to, you know, help ourselves, and no, the prices they are ridiculous! You can't rent it."
Audio extracts
Moving Me Project
MOVING_ME? project at Tate Modern
In August 2019 photographs from the ‘Moving_Me? project featured in the Tottenham’s Trojan Horse Group show at Tate Modern. The Trojan Horse exhibition told the story of the proposed eviction of tenants living on the Love Lane Estate.
Read more