A case study from Sheffield City Council looking at how they approached the refurbishment of a 1950s built housing estate.
Summary
Park Hill was built in 1957 and took four years to complete. It's a large estate compromising of 995 units, all of which were council owned.
The first post-war slum clearance, it was the most ambitious and renowned inner-city housing redevelopment scheme of it's time. Residents were moved into Park Hill from the slum clearance and neighbours were rehoused next door to each other which retained the existing community. A community centre and shops were also built within the estate.
The estate was very popular and fully occupied until the beginning of the 1980s. At this point Park Hill fell into decline. This was due to many factors including lack of investment and changes in society.
Park Hill is the largest Grade 2* listed building in the country. It was listed in December 1998 by the Secretary of State for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. This listing places the building amongst the most important six per cent of listed buildings in England.
In the late 1990s, in considering how to meet the Government's Decent Homes standard, the council decided that promotion of a mixed tenure redevelopment, working with private sector partners, would deliver a more sustainable future.
Making it happen
A strategic partnership was formed in 2002 which was made up of Sheffield City Council, Transform South Yorkshire, English Partnerships, English Heritage and Sheffield One Urban Regeneration Agency. This partnership was charged with developing a vision for the future of Park Hill.
The vision for Park Hill is that:
"Park Hill becomes a sustainable, vibrant, mixed tenure estate with owner occupation, rented and affordable for sale properties along with high quality retail and commercial premises"
In order to achieve the vision for Park Hill the process to procure a developer and Registered Social Landlord (RSL) began. An advert was placed in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) in April 2004. A market brief set out what we wanted to achieve, information on the site and the wider regeneration links. All responses went through a formal evaluation process which residents were involved in.
The residents played a key role in the procurement of the RSL. They were advised by an RSL that was not submitting for Park Hill as to what services they should expect from an RSL. The residents were then able to recommend an RSL. It was important to SCC that residents were involved in this process as a commitment was given to existing residents that they would be given a priority to return to the estate once the redevelopment was complete.
Urban Splash was selected as lead developer and Manchester Methodist Housing Association (now known at Great Places Housing Group) were selected as the preferred RSL to provide affordable housing for rent and sale.
Making a difference
We have rehoused people from 886 properties on Park Hill out of a total of 995 units. Rehousing began in 2003 and phases 1 - 4 are now vacant. However, Grace Owen Nursery which is located within phase 4 is still open and is a very popular nursery. It has recently received its second ‘Outstanding' rating from Ofsted. The current future plans for the nursery are that it will be relocated within the newly redeveloped Park Hill.
The only area of the estate which is still occupied is phase 5. The decision to not declare phase 5 for rehousing until approximately 2011 was largely so that residents who wished to return could stay on the estate. This is to try to ensure that those residents can move into a redeveloped property from phase 5 in one move.
In June 2007 Urban Splash submitted a detailed planning application which includes:
- 634 units for sale
- 200 units for rent
- 40 units for shared ownership
- new health and community facilities
- range of shops, bars, an art gallery and other attractions to make Park Hill not just somewhere to live but also somewhere to visit.
Planning permission was granted on the 1 October 2007.
Urban Splash began work on site on the 5 November 2007. In this time they have removed the asbestos from within the building which enabled them to complete the demolition of the interior walls by February 2009. This work had to be undertaken by hand due to the fact that Park Hill is Listed as Grade 2* so care has to be taken not to damage the frame of the building.
Work is now underway on the concrete repairs and roofing works.
Next steps
The enveloping works on phase 1 will be completed in April 2011 and the properties within the first flank of phase 1 will be completed in October 2011.
Key learning
Park Hill is a large scale redevelopment and there are a number of areas of learning for other organisations
- strategic planning and practical complexities of the project, confirming its connection with the city centre and its redevelopment
- the unique partnerships that have been formed
- funding packages
- resident engagement over a long period of time, where we have benefitted from having long standing residents who are keen to remain in the area
- working with a listed building: the Grade 2* listing status has been a key issue when working with the developer, Urban Splash (US), and English Heritage to ensure the building can be redeveloped and sustainability assured without losing its identity and iconic status.
Further information
For any further information please contact Catherine Hughes of the Regeneration Team:
Tel: 0114 2922307
Email: [email protected]