The inhabitants of a well-known brutalist housing estate, prominently featured in the 1971 film “A Clockwork Orange,” are taking legal action against the local council in a bid to prevent its demolition.
A determined group of residents is challenging the planned destruction of the Lesnes Estate in Thamesmead, located in southeast London. Their objective is to halt the redevelopment plans.
In December, council officials gave the green light to a proposal by the housing association Peabody to demolish the expansive estate and replace it with up to 1,950 new homes.
However, the residents have initiated a judicial review of this decision, with many pledging to contest the redevelopment and remain in their homes. They note that there are currently 596 units on the estate, though many are unoccupied.
Massive protests have erupted, with numerous participants engaging in protest occupations. Signs displayed on many properties declare: “The current occupation is a political protest to draw attention to the inadequate resources for homeless individuals in London.”
Moreover, in certain units, while they are not permanently inhabited, individuals rotate every 12 hours as part of the occupation strategy to prevent the buildings from being torn down.
Numerous houses have signs in their windows making clear they will stay, some including ‘hands off our homes’ and ‘housing is a human right’.
The locals are on edge and when the Daily Mail visited this week, locals darted between their properties with fear that they would be forcibly evicted. Many keep ‘look out’, telling others when the ‘coast is clear’ to leave.
Residents of a brutalist estate which is due to be knocked down are suing a council to stay
The estate played a part in Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece, A Clockwork Orange
The campaign is being led by local Adam Turk, who has lived on the estate since 2009
Many said they were too worried to speak out.
The campaign is being led by local Adam Turk, who has lived on the estate since 2009.
The social tenant has instructed the Public Interest Law Centre (PILC) to lodge a claim against Bexley Council, challenging approval made by the council on December 23, 2026.
Peabody said all resident homeowners and tenants on the Lesnes Estate are offered the chance to move to one of the new homes it is building ‘over the road in South Thamesmead’.
Mr Turk, 53, told the Daily Mail: ‘It’s a disgrace. Local people who have been here for years and contributed and are being abandoned.
‘People are fighting to stay. We are taking legal action because we want to remain. We don’t feel they have a legal right to get us to leave.
‘Whenever there’s regeneration, it’s about the people who have lived here for decades. Some have been here 30 or 40 years. Our rights are abandoned. It’s about profit.
‘It’s a proper area. Our houses are built properly. All these other flimsy things that go up don’t last properly for five minutes. These properties have survived everything.’
The hospitality worker said he was confident they would win the battle. He added: ‘I believe things are moving in the right direction.’
A group of locals have mounted a legal challenge in the hope of saving the Lesnes Estate in Thamesmead, south east London
The claim will be decided on the environmental impact the estate demolition will have, and how the planning documents accompanying the plans supposedly downplay the harmful effects of the demolition’s greenhouse gas emissions.
The environmental statement provided by Peabody recognises that the effects of the emissions arising from the new development will be ‘significant’, although they are also described as ‘minor adverse’.
The statement is assessed against Peabody’s illustrative masterplan.
But the legal challenge argues this is unlawful as it should have been assessed against ‘the reasonable worst-case scenario of this outline permission’, a legal principle known as the ‘Rochdale envelope’ approach.
The environmental statement says the illustrative masterplan was used rather than the maximum scheme parameters because ‘it is not expected that the future form of the development will fully extend to the maximum building height and development zone footprint parameters’ and thus, using the maximum parameters would ‘likely result in a substantial overestimation of the effects of the scheme on greenhouse gas emissions’.
Mr Turk added: ‘They’re sweeping us under the carpet. It’s wrong. Our rights have been abandoned.’
Many locals are taking it in turns to occupy some of the homes.
Many have left the site already, but around 100 are defiantly remaining and will defy the builders.
One woman said: ‘I’ll chain myself to my front door if I have to. I don’t care. I’m going nowhere.
‘There’s nowhere for us to go. They don’t care. It’s not fair. I am a British citizen, I’ve lived and worked here all my life and I deserve to live here.
‘They can’t put me in some rubbish flimsy flat, miles from where I know anyone. This is my home.
Many have left the site already, but around 100 are defiantly remaining and will defy the builders
‘I am going nowhere. It’s ugly but I love it.’
Colin McCarthy, 45, has lived in his house on the estate for decades with his parents.
He said: ‘We want to stay. We love it here. We don’t want to go. I would be devastated to leave. My parents would be as well. This is a huge part of our lives. I don’t know where we could go.’
Patrick Passon, 34, has been told if he is told to go, then he just has four weeks to move.
Patrick, who has lived there for three years, said: ‘All they want to do is put tower blocks everywhere and make millions. They just want more and more skyscrapers. I cannot see what the legitimate argument is.
‘It feels like they’re doing it to make a fortune. Well, I don’t think forcing people to leave their homes that they feel secure in and love is a good enough reason? The public interest is not there. They should not be allowed to do it.
‘I know it looks haunted here and it might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but we like it. We’re not here because we think it’s Monte Carlo. It’s Thamesmead and we’re proud.’
Clifford Young, 42, said he also wants to stay.
He said: ‘I have been here one year and I love it. They need to spend some money renovating the place but I love it.’
Another resident said: ‘I am going nowhere. I can promise you I will stay and defy them all.
‘These are our homes.’
Iconic and violent scenes around different concrete walkways were filmed on the estate
The estate played a part in Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece, A Clockwork Orange.
Iconic and violent scenes around different concrete walkways were filmed there.
Thamesmead was conceived by a group of architects at the former Greater London Council in the 1960s and hailed as ‘the town of tomorrow’.
The arrival of the Elizabeth line to Abbey Wood in 2022 has made travel into London and parts of Essex quicker, making the area a more attractive location for City workers to live.
Bexley Council said it could not comment on the dispute.
A Peabody spokesperson said: ‘We’re investing in communities in and around South Thamesmead, supporting people, improving public areas and providing much-needed new homes.
‘The planned redevelopment of the Lesnes Estate, supported by the majority of local residents, will help us expand this work and create an even better place for local people to live.
‘We’ll respond to legal enquiries around the planning application and continue to support residents during this period of transition.’
