Alice Shepherd House and Oak House

We own and manage 84 homes in Alice Shepherd House and Oak House on the St John's Estate. We are currently working with residents and consultants to consider different regeneration options for the future of these blocks.

Please visit the dedicated Alice Shepherd House and Oak House project website here.

What has happened so far

In 2017

We carried out an independent stock condition survey which suggested that Alice Shepherd House and Oak House may benefit from change.

In 2018

This view was supported by feedback we gathered from residents during our day-to-day work as a landlord and through several resident events. Alice Shepherd House, in particular, has a number of long-standing maintenance issues that would be difficult to fully repair without considerable and invasive work to the entire building. Residents also told us that they have ongoing concerns about anti-social behaviour and security. This led us to consider these two blocks for regeneration.

In 2019

A ‘Residents Steering Group’ (RSG) was appointed, which consists of a voluntary group of tenants and leaseholders from across the two blocks.

The steering group appointed:

Architects - PRP Architects LLP
An independent advisor – Lee Page from TPAS, who will work with residents and us to complete an options appraisal.
Mike Tyrrell, former CEO of Tower Hamlets Community Housing, as a residents' advocate, whose role is to represent and support residents throughout the option appraisal process.

In March to April, we gathered information from 81% of households in Alice Shepherd House and Oak House through our 'Starting the Conversation' questionnaire. Residents told us what they liked, disliked, and felt could be improved about their homes, blocks and neighbourhood.

In July, we shared the questionnaire results with residents so they could gain an understanding of the views of their neighbours.

In 2020

We kicked off the first round of consultation and introduced our project architect, PRP. This included two exhibition events followed by one-to-one meetings arranged between residents and the One Housing regeneration team.

The first exhibition events were held in person and covered an introduction to the options appraisal process, and discussion to build on the feedback from the ‘Starting the Conversation’ questionnaire.

The second exhibition events were held remotely due to the Covid pandemic through posted booklets, phone interviews and online feedback. Residents were presented with the different designs for the regeneration options, along with some analysis work on each option looking at factors such as the financial assessment, planning risk and community benefits.

In 2021

In June, we held the third exhibition event in person, where residents were presented with a summary of the different options from the last event and an introduction to the design themes for each of the options, covering private/shared open space, parking, buildings, and internal home layouts.

The second part of the event was set up into three workshop spaces, each covering the design themes, in which residents were presented with a number of boards showing plans and sketches of each option as well as example images of the potential designs and interventions.

In general, Full Redevelopment was the option that most residents were in support of, followed by the Refurbishment option.

In October, we held the fourth event where residents were presented with the selected 3 options that were brought forward from the last event. The selection of design options was based on the popularity amongst residents and viability assessments. The design options and their viability assessments were presented along with a 3D physical model which residents could see the layout of each option amongst the wider area around the estate.

In general, Full Redevelopment was the option that most residents were in support of.

In 2022

In January, we held the final event where residents were presented with the updated design information for the preferred option, which was for a full redevelopment of the estate, as well as the next steps of the ballot process and Landlord Offer.

In February, residents were provided with our Landlord Offer document which set out the commitments if the ballot was successful, along with the example plans and designs to provide residents an idea of what they could typically expect if the proposed regeneration goes ahead.

In March, a ballot was held for residents to vote on the regeneration proposal to demolish the existing blocks and build new homes. The turnout for the ballot was 88%, and 82% of those who took part voted 'yes'.

In November 2022, we appointed Open Communities as the new Independent Tenant & Resident Advisor for the regeneration of Alice Shepherd House and Oak House.

What is happening now

Following the conclusion of the ballot, we have been meeting with each household to discuss their specific needs and preferences for the future, and we’re now in the process of appointing a Joint Venture (JV) partner.

Once our JV partner has been appointed, the next stage will be the ‘detailed design’ which will last around 12-18 months. This stage will involve working on the regeneration proposals in more detail up to an application being submitted to the Council for planning permission.

Through this process we will hold several exhibition events for all residents to provide feedback on the designs.

Contact us

We are always happy to hear from you and to answer any questions you may have. For more information, please contact the project team:

Shaun Simpson, Regeneration Officer, on 0208 821 6215 or email ssimpson@onehousing.co.uk
Soundous Serroukh, Regeneration Officer, 0208 821 6584 or email sserroukh@onehousing.co.uk
Email the team at islandregen@onehousing.co.uk.

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