Sebastian Whitton

41% of Londoners 'very attached' to home borough



Some 41% of Londoners are very attached to the borough they live in, according to a new report.


The survey for Regenerate London – conducted by Opinion Matters – found that just under half (49%) were very attached to the capital, while 43% were fairly attached to their borough.

A clear majority (70%) were aware of the history of the borough they lived in, while 86% of respondents stated that they had some – or a lot – of interaction with the community.
   
Londoners felt more aware of the local history of their area than those living in other parts of the UK.

The survey found that 54% were most proud of the transport connections within their borough, followed by outside spaces and parks (47%) and the people they share their neighbourhood with (38%).

A staggering 93% said they felt least proud of any new or improved housing within the borough.

Nearly three in five (58%) said they had no idea of any regeneration projects planned for their area in the coming years.

When asked about improvements in the borough over the past five years, 19% were unable to identify any improvements whatsoever.

The next highest figure was the 17% who opted for restaurants and social spaces, while developments designed to deliver better housing was only backed by 7%.

Some 45% believed a lack of funding was the biggest obstacle to regeneration in their area, followed by a lack of support from the borough council (29%) and a lack of desire for regeneration (14%).

Regenerate London’s survey also identified areas of the community that residents felt had been most neglected in recent years in terms of investment and regeneration.

Two in five (40%) stated that it was the state of their streets, 33% said their shopping facilities, 21% said a lack of improvements to privately owned houses and properties, and 16% progress in the delivery of new builds and private developments.

Housing came top of the poll with regards to areas that required the greatest amount of investment with 22%, while 6% of Londoners saw no need for improvement whatsoever.

Sebastian Whitton, director at Regenerate London (pictured above), said: “London has been welcoming waves of immigrants and refugees from all over the world for centuries, and that has helped shape our great city.

“We are, of course, disappointed – but have been in no way surprised – to find extremely low levels of pride being expressed in the housing stock at a borough level.

“London’s housing plight is desperate, and our research serves only to underline the very significant and irresponsible lack of investment over recent years, and we at Regenerate London are deeply concerned over the speed at which the planning process is moving here in the capital.
 
“London’s boroughs must look to move more efficiently in granting consents and face the housing crisis head on.

“Many are sitting on perfectly suitable sites, occupied by under-utilised or abandoned buildings, but few have the capability to develop these sites.

“The borough councils must adopt a more commercial stance and demonstrate that they really are willing and committed to tackling London’s housing crisis."



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