Agar Grove estate

As part of our Community Investment Programme we are looking at all our housing estates. This is to consider how best to use our assets and land to improve, shape and transform key places.

In December 2013 the Council’s Cabinet gave the go ahead for the redevelopment of the Agar Grove estate. In April 2014 our planning application was approved.

The key aspects of the redevelopment are:

• demolition of all the low-rise buildings on the estate apart from the two L&Q housing association blocks and the Agar Children’s Centre
• enough new Camden Council homes will be built for all existing tenants who want to continue living at Agar Grove. This includes tenants in the Lulworth tower block who will move into new blocks with a concierge, and managed by the Agar Grove Co-op 
• the Council will buy back leasehold and freehold homes
• new-build flats and refurbished flats in Lulworth will be sold on an outright basis to fund the redevelopment scheme. Some will be rented at Camden Living Rent to people living and working in the borough
• an integrated landscaping plan with communal gardens and play spaces, gardens shared between blocks, and improved access and parking.

In August 2021 an Initial Demolition Notice was served on all council tenants living in the tower block Lulworth. This was in accordance with Schedule 5A of the Housing Act 1985. This suspended the processing of Right to Buy applications for all homes to be demolished within the seven years from August 2021:

• Agar Grove estate redevelopment - initial demolition notice, August 2021 (PDF)

 

In July 2019 we held a consultation event about proposed minor amendments to the planning permission for the third phase of the redevelopment:

• Agar Grove estate redevelopment - exhibition boards, July 2019 (PDF)

The amendments were approved by Camden Planning in October 2020 and in December 2020 we appointed Hill Partnerships Ltd as the construction contractor. Works commenced in February 2021 and are due to complete in early 2024.

In October 2021 Hill wrote their Construction Management Plan (also known as the Construction Phase Health and Safety Plan):

• Agar Grove estate redevelopment – Phase 1c Construction Management Plan, October 2021 (PDF)

Minor material planning amendment – air source heat pump enclosures

The heating and hot water for the two blocks in construction – currently known as Block I and Block JKL – will be provided by air source heat pumps (ASHPs), rather than gas fired boilers. This is to comply with the Mayor of London’s London Plan which addresses the decarbonisation of the electricity grid, and also the Government’s plans to phase out gas boilers. The pumps will be located within enclosures on the roofs of the new buildings.

We have submitted a minor material amendment to Camden’s Planning department concerning a change to the enclosure design that was agreed previously. These changes are to ensure that we meet planning conditions about limiting noise to homes underneath the pumps and to those nearby, as well as to the surrounding area.  Each of the large ASHPs planned originally are to be replaced by two smaller ones, within a larger enclosure housing both pumps.

This document produced by our architects Hawkins\Brown explains these changes:

Agar Grove estate redevelopment, air source heat pump design, March 2023 (PDF)

The enclosures will have minimal visual impact from street level as shown in the images in on pages 10-13 of the document.

 

Block I and Block JKL are currently in construction.

In May 2022 we held a consultation event about proposed minor amendments to the planning permission for the next phase of the redevelopment.

This fourth redevelopment phase will comprise Block B, to be built in the south-eastern corner of the estate:

Agar Grove estate redevelopment - exhibition boards, May 2022 (PDF)

Council's Cabinet and Development Control Committee approved the redevelopment after a series of resident consultation events.

We displayed images of the new buildings and their surroundings at an exhibition in December 2013:

• Agar Grove estate redevelopment - exhibition boards, December 2013 (PDF) 

Following approval of the redevelopment we held other events. In July 2014 we showed images of the insides of the new buildings:

• Agar Grove estate redevelopment - exhibition boards, July 2014 (PDF)

In April 2015 we appointed Hill Partnerships Ltd as the contractor to build the first two phases of the redevelopment scheme.

The first phase - a Passivhaus certified block of 38 new council homes - completed in April 2018. Tenants living on the estate moved into their new home later that month.

Before people moved in to the new homes, the estate’s residents were invited to visit a show flat in the block.

The second phase of the redevelopment included 34 new council homes, two public squares and a cafe space.

The new council homes were completed in January 2021.

This phase also included 23 homes for sale.

The sale of new homes funds the building of the new council homes, estate roads and landscaping.

Name and contact details of the Data Controller

London Borough of Camden, Judd Street, London, WC1H 9JE

Phone: 020 7974 4444

Name and contact details of the Data Protection Officer

Andrew Maughan, Borough Solicitor

Email: dpo@camden.gov.uk

The purpose of the processing

1. To allow residents to join in consultation about the redevelopment of the Agar Grove estate. This includes the estate’s tenants and leaseholders, and local residents. At different stages of the scheme residents are asked to choose between options, or give views, including on development proposals, scheme design, naming of new streets and blocks, and public art proposals. Names and addresses are collected to identify who responds to consultations and, where appropriate, to ensure only one response is counted from any one household. Contact phone numbers and email addresses are collected to allow contact with residents about consultations and the redevelopment scheme generally.

2. To allow the estate’s tenants to be rehoused into new homes on the estate or elsewhere in the borough.

The legal basis for processing

We will process your personal data with your consent Under Article 6(1)(a) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). We will only process your Special Categories Data if you give explicit consent under Article 9(2)(a) of GDPR.

The categories of personal data that we will process are:

Details of household members including name, date of birth, address, contact phone numbers and email address.

The special categories of data we will process are:

Sex, information about health / disability.

The categories of people that the Council has or will disclose the data to:

• Staff in the Development team.
• Staff in the Placements team. Personal data received while we collect tenants’ preferred rehousing options is shared with the Placements team to allow tenants to be given a new home on the estate or housing off the estate.

Contact details for Camden Council tenants and leaseholders are added to the Council’s database, Northgate, which is used by housing services including housing management, repairs, placements and leaseholder services.

We also carry out general data matching or data sharing in certain areas. This is to prevent or detect crime. Find out more on our Data Protection and privacy web page.

The Council does not intend to disclose the data to any other third parties. However, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) gives the public the right to access recorded information held by public sector organisations. When dealing with requests under this act, the Council has the right to refuse to provide sensitive material and/or to redact (remove or make unreadable) any personal information so that individuals cannot be identified.

We will not transfer your personal data outside the EU/EEA.

The criteria used to decide how long we keep the data

 

• Contact details will be kept on Northgate until you tell us they have changed.
• Feedback and preferences forms will be kept for up to seven years.

Your data subject rights

You have the right to:

• request a copy of the information we hold about you
• ask us to correct, erase or restrict processing of your data
• ask for data portability
• object to automated decision making
• if we are relying on consent, the right to withdraw consent at any time.

There are some exemptions to these rights. Find out more on our 'Your rights' web page and the ICO website for more information.

To exercise these rights please use our web form.

The right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority

You can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office if you are unhappy with how the Council has handled your personal data. It would be helpful if you would contact us first at dpa@camden.gov.uk to see if we can resolve the problem. You can contact the ICO at casework@ico.org.uk or phone 0303 123 1113, or post to Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

• You don't have to give us personal data by law or contract.
• We are not using automated decision making or profiling to process your personal data.

If you have any questions or comments about the Agar Grove estate redevelopment scheme please contact:

Email: cip@camden.gov.uk