Lewisham mum will miss 'dream' home in Place Ladywell

Rebecca Hall, 28, said she loved her two-bed flat in Place Ladywell, a housing and retail complex, made of portable buildings in Lewisham, despite the estate’s problems with antisocial behaviour.

The local council is due to dismantle the pop-up village made up of 24 two-bedroom flats for homeless families, as well as premises for businesses, around eight years since the building was finished back in 2016.

Place Ladywell

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) as she moved out of the two-bed flat last Friday (October 4), mum-of-two Ms Hall said: “I will miss this place. It’s so lovely. I’m going to miss the massive windows and the massive doors.

“I loved this flat. I’ve only been here for a year. I was in a hostel for four years with two kids [before]. We shared a bathroom. Going to this was a dream really. It’s sad the building is going.

“The living room is massive and there’s a huge storage room. The bad thing is that a lot of my letters are stolen and at the moment there’s a human poo in the stairwell.”

Ms Hall paid £1,240 per month for her two-bed flat in the building, which she acknowledged was ‘very expensive’.

She secured her new home, a council property in Downham, after the council gave her and other residents in Place Ladywell the highest priority for rehousing as it prepares to dismantle the complex. 

Place Ladywell

The portable village was due to be moved to another location in the borough by 2021 to allow for a permanent development on the site on Lewisham High Street. But the buildings have remained in place. 

Despite the fact the structures were meant to last 60 years, the council said the buildings had now reached the end of their lifespan and would not be relocated to another location in Lewisham. 

Lucesse Samuel, 54, who has run a dressmaking and clothing shop out of a ground floor unit in the village since 2016 said the building had given her a space to build her business despite ongoing issues with the structure itself.

Lucesse Samuel

She said: “There were challenges with the building. There was a leak and the ceiling fell through. Water on clothes does not work. It really affected the business. It took a toll on my health.  

“Otherwise it gave me a platform and it gave me a start: it introduced me to the world out there. I believe I have got what I need to move on now. The footfall was a bit low but my work speaks for itself. I survive because of word of mouth.”

But mum-of-two Gemma, who has lived in the building for six years, was less fond of her time in the pop-up village, branding it ‘absolute hell.’ 

The 40-year-old, who declined to give her surname, said: “I have got a floor to ceiling door that has not closed for the last four years. It’s boiling in the summer and freezing in the winter. It has been absolute hell. 

“We have had issues with drug use, asbo neighbours. Earlier I found a plastic thing. It was a narcotics pen. It’s just horrible sometimes. The door [to the building] is not secure. It’s dire.”

Gemma added that despite her rent being classed as ‘affordable’, her two-bed flat cost her £1,426 per month, which she said was more than her sister’s mortgage. 

A Lewisham Council spokesperson said:  “PLACE/Ladywell was created as a temporary building on the former site of Ladywell Leisure Centre, while long term plans were developed for new homes. We have carried out repairs to extend its lifespan, but recent surveys have indicated it is not economically viable to maintain it for the long term.

“We retain our responsibility towards tenants’ safety and comfort in their home or place of work while they remain, and will investigate these reports urgently. We can confirm the blocks continue to be cleaned fully on a weekly basis and inspected daily.”