Residents on a South London estate fear it’s being left to crumble as the council plans to knock it down.
Lewisham Council plans to start rebuilding the estate in New Cross over the next few years.
Lewisham says it wants to increase the number of social rent homes on the estate with the redevelopment.
Residents voted in favour of rebuilding the Achilles Street estate in 2019 in a ballot where the other option was leaving the estate as it was.
Residents say they have since been forgotten about, with broken walls and gates still unfixed months after being reported to Lewisham Homes – the council’s housing company.
One resident said she felt the estate was becoming a “ghetto”.
Suzy Bukasa, 22, said: “The wall outside has been broken for months since someone crashed into it.
"A lady from the council came around at the time and said she’d fix it herself. I haven’t seen her since then. It’s like a ghetto. I don’t see anything happening for a few years.
“It would be a good thing if they got on with the rebuild. I’ve been living here since primary school and it’s depressing to see the same thing everyday.”
Miss Bukasa’s mum was one of the 73 per cent of residents who voted for the rebuild of the estate in the 2019 ballot on a 92 per cent turnout of those eligible to vote.
She said her mum’s enthusiasm for the plans had waned as years had passed with little progress.
Lewisham Council previous estimated it could construct 450 homes on the Achilles Street estate but has yet to confirm the exact number.
The rebuild site includes Austin House and Fenton House on the south side of Achilles Street, Azalea House on the north side and some flats and shops on New Cross Road.
The council has promised that 35 per cent of the homes eventually built will be council-owned and available at social rents.
A total of 50 per cent of the homes built will be available at affordable rents – which can be up to 80 per cent of market rate.
Plans are yet to be submitted for the project but Lewisham has said the number of social homes on the site will increase with the redevelopment.
James McCord, 82, was in the minority of residents who voted against the rebuild in 2019.
Despite this, he said he wasn’t worried about the plans as he expected to be dead before the council got around to starting work on the development.
He said: “They’ll rebuild it but not in my lifetime. I’ve been here for 30 years and I don’t see anything wrong with the estate as it is. The problem is they don’t maintain it.
“The front gate came off nine years ago because the people upstairs threw a settee down when they were moving out and it has still not been fixed.
"This is Lewisham’s way of getting us to move I think. I would move if they moved us out to the countryside.”
The shops due to be bulldozed on New Cross Road didn’t get to vote in the 2019 ballot.
Few business owners were in when the Local Democracy Reporting Service visited on September 2.
Reljo Kivistik, 33, manager of hipster café Mughead Coffee, said the business was looking for a new premises to open another branch.
He said: “We’re looking around here but also outside of New Cross. It’s not because of the plans for this building but it’s a push.”
A Lewisham Council spokesperson said: “The redevelopment of the Achilles Street estate was supported overwhelmingly by residents in the ballot in 2019, with 73% voting in favour on a 92% turnout.
"It will deliver a significant increase in the number of social homes on the estate, helping families on our housing waiting list.
"Residents have been closely involved in developing designs for the scheme, including appointing the architects, ensuring this is a truly resident-led redevelopment.
“Lewisham Homes are continuing to carry out repairs on the estate and residents should continue to report any issues with their property or the wider estate to Lewisham Homes.”
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