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Clarion has committed to a £37m investment package for an estate that came to symbolise the future for social housing in London.

And there’s a promise to develop plans for the Sutton Estate, Kensington & Chelsea, with residents as empty blocks are assessed for full refurbishment and at least 80 new social rented homes are delivered –  with priority given to residents currently living on the estate.

Residents in the remaining  flats on the estate get new kitchens and bathrooms and other upgrades.

With no homes for private sale, work on the estate is due to start next summer.

“The Sutton Estate is an integral part of the community in Kensington and Chelsea and securing the future of social housing on the estate has always been the priority for us,” said  Clare Miller, Chief Executive of Clarion Housing Group.

“Our new plans will modernise the existing homes and the estate as a whole, benefitting not just today’s residents but future generations.

By delivering at least 80 new social rented homes, we are also able to play a key role in helping to address the borough’s acute shortage of genuinely affordable housing,” she said.

In June, as reported by 24housing, a five-year stand-off over the estate’s regeneration ended – having been billed a test for the future for social housing in the capital.

Then, in the face of vociferous campaigning, Clarion has confirmed it wouldn’t be pushing ahead with demolition on the estate having had a regeneration proposal rejected by the then Secretary of State James Brokenshire the previous December due to the “significant loss” of social housing.

Instead, Clarion outlined a consultation offering “entirely new proposals” intended to keep the community in place and underpinned by commitments to prioritise new social homes where flats currently lie empty and invest in remaining blocks.

At the time, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said the rejection of the plans marked “an important milestone” in efforts to protect London’s estates from regeneration plans that don’t account for social housing need.

Kensington and Chelsea council Deputy Leader and Lead Member for Housing, Cllr Kim Taylor Smith, called the Clarion announcement “heartening” in the hope it would encourage other housing associations and developers to work with the council to provide more social housing in the borough.