DIY in L8

The house beyond the scaffolding was bought by Jayal Madde from the council for £1. The two conditions were that he could afford to renovate it, and that he would then live in it for at least 5 years. Having spent some £30k on its renewal, he is about to move in with his family. This is one of 20 such houses in the area and a further 10 have been acquired by a Community Land Trust which was set up by local people to improve empty properties. Half will be sold to members and the other half let at affordable rents.

We used to live about 4 streets away and this was where our daughter was born. Our street has since been demolished. The streets of the Granby triangle were one of the first area improvement programmes in the 1970s with Housing Associations acquiring substandard properties with private landlords and improving them for rent. The problem arose some 30 years later when the improvements had run their course and further work was needed.The Housing Associations' preferred option was demolition and new build. Blight set in and was accentuated when the money for new build by social landlords dried up.

The residents at this end of the triangle started to organise and fight for their streets. They won a Nothwest in Bloom award for their planting in the streets and the derelict properties and established a monthly market and now they can see some of the houses being improved and lived in again.