EXCLUSIVE: Council is recruiting for director-level official to oversee the redevelopment of notorious Regina Road council flats. By our housing correspondent, BARRATT HOLMES
This “circa £125,000” job is a new role, and is being paid for out of the £54million grant funding from the Greater London Authority towards the demolition and redevelopment of the notorious Regina Road towers and neighbouring council homes.
According to the job ad, which appeared last week, “We now have the financial stability and capacity to turn our attention to developing new, affordable homes directly and with partners.”
A demolition schedule for the South Norwood estate has been drawn up to remove the three 60-year-old, Wates-built tower blocks and some surrounding housing, to be replaced by at least 200 social rent council homes and up to 25 leaseholder or freeholder flats, plus a community kindergarten.
Time to go: the Regina Road estate area, where 190 homes are to be demolished and replaced with nearly 400, in one of the biggest council-led schemes in Croydon for 30 years
That will be followed by the development of at least 155 money-spinning private homes in a second phase of building. By the time of completion, the council will have virtually doubled the number of homes currently on the site.
The council’s plans, following a consultation with residents held last year, have been made possible by a £54million grant from the GLA – more than half of the council’s £103million budget for the demolition and rebuild.
Regina Road made national headlines three years ago, when ITV News showed the appalling conditions in the flats, with mould down the walls and water running through ceilings, making the properties dangerous and uninhabitable. The “slum-like conditions” were described as “dangerous squalor” in the television news report.
Demolition is due to begin later this year.
Susmita Sen has been Croydon’s corporate director of housing for almost three years. The new director’s role will report to her, while overseeing the Regina Road and other redevelopments.
“We have a new five-year housing strategy in place and are ready to deliver at pace,” the job ad states.
‘Inspiring’: Deputy Mayor Lynne Hale with her boss, piss-poor Perry
“As our new director, you will grip and drive exciting new development sites that have already attracted significant GLA funding.” Grip and drive, indeed.
“You will also build on our positive, new relationships with investors who are keen to work with us.” This might be a reference to Westfield, who have been “keen to work with us” for at least 12 years, and so far done nothing about it.
The pay-off line to the ad drew unabated laughter from sources on Katharine Street.
“You will join a highly supportive departmental and corporate leadership team and work closely with our inspiring lead member for housing.”
Croydon’s “lead member for housing” is Lynne Hale, a Conservative councillor for Sanderstead who in 2022 was installed as piss-poor Perry’s deputy mayor, largely because she’s unlikely ever to be a threat to the borough’s impotent mayor.
“Inspiring? Are they for real?” said one Town Hall figure. “This is Lynne Hale they’re talking about, who works as Tory MP Chris Philp’s office dog’s body… The living embodiment of a time-server if ever there was one.”
Another described Hale as “walking, talking Mogadon”.
Council job title inflation: how the new role was advertised last week
Others said that the somewhat partisan choice of language used in the official advertisement about the “inspiring” councillor raised eyebrows in Fisher’s Folly. “I am not sure whether it is appropriate for officers or council consultants drafting a job ad to offer an editorial view on whether or not a particular politician is ‘inspiring’, or indeed any other evaluative term.
“They should surely have just said ‘You will be working closely with the portfolio holder’ and left it at that.
“People of the calibre they’re looking for would doubtless do their own homework about the politicians and senior managers they’d be working with.”
Given the amount of GLA funding being provided, and the scale of the works agreed, even just at Regina Road, there is reasonable justification for recruiting at this level, even if the job title is another example of job title inflation in the council sector (“Twenty years ago, someone at that level would have been an ‘assistant director’,” a usually less-cynical Katharine Street source said today).
“Croydon has done nothing like this scale of demolition or new build for 20 to 30 years at least. Even Brick by Brick was not on this scale.
“Such projects need to be carefully managed both in normal construction terms and making sure tenants are properly looked after.”
And there could be more to come, suggest the source. “Stock condition work under way currently may suggest other opportunities for big capital projects which would add to council’s housing stock,” they said. Croydon has another eight Wates-build residential blocks of a similar vintage to Regina Road, some of which may also demand close attention soon.
Read more: This is council’s chance to do more than just the bare minimum
Read more: London Mayor steps in with £53.8m grant for Regina Road
Read more: Croydon shamed over ‘dangerous squalor’ in council flats
Read more: Investigation finds systemic failure and incompetence in council
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