Milford Towers refurbishment and future plans
Milford Towers is a housing estate of 276 homes in eight blocks in Catford. It is part of a complex built in 1974 which includes the Catford shopping centre and Holbeach Rd car park. Lewisham Council is the freeholder.
In 2011, Lewisham’s Mayor and Cabinet agreed on long-term regeneration plans for Catford town centre, including the eventual demolition of Milford Towers. In preparation, we began the process of moving residents out of the buildings, gradually moving secure tenants to alternative properties in the borough and offering right-to-buy leaseholders the opportunity to sell their home back to the Council.
Meanwhile use
As part of this process, we entered into a leasing arrangement with Notting Hill Housing Trust (now Notting Hill Genesis) to re-let the majority of flats on the estate on a short-term basis, at intermediate rents. These were made available to key workers and others finding it hard to afford market rent prices in the borough. This was to make use of the building in the meantime, reducing the risk of squatting and anti-social behaviour in the area, and maintaining a rental income for the Council as part of our fiscal responsibility.
We retained a proportion of flats to use as temporary accommodation, with a small number of secure tenants and leaseholders remaining as well.
Deferring plans until the 2030s
We have deferred the regeneration plans for Milford Towers while we develop a complete vision for the town centre, which is dependent on a variety of external factors including the TfL review of the options for the relocation of the South Circular. Recent work on the delivery strategy for Catford Town Centre regeneration has indicated that any comprehensive regeneration of Milford Towers is unlikely to be feasible before the mid-2030s.
With this in mind, we have made a very substantial investment in repairs to the buildings in recent years, to make sure they can be a safe and pleasant place to live for another decade at least. This has included installing a new door entry and CCTV system to control access to the estate and reduce anti-social behaviour by non-residents; extensive refurbishment of the electrical and water mains installation; repairs to roofs and drainage; overhaul or replacement of lifts; and much more.
Management arrangements
The arrangement with Notting Hill Genesis was originally due to expire at the end of 2015 but has been extended with the current lease ending in November 2024. Notting Hill Genesis has decided not to enter a new long-term lease at Milford Towers, but has agreed with Lewisham Council to extend the lease by one year to November 2025 in order to allow for a smooth transition of management arrangements.
We are developing plans for how to manage Milford Towers in future years, and we are committed to supporting the existing community on the estate. This means our focus is on making sure current residents can stay if they wish to, and their tenancies can be extended without any disruption to them.
Notting Hill Genesis and Lewisham Council are working together to keep residents informed directly and will update this page as plans are finalised.