Sweetstopia

“Left to rot”:
Is estate regeneration still failing Londoners?

A report by Zoë Garbett
Green Party London Assembly Member
March 2026

The test case is the Lesnes Estate, where there is an active housing protest occupation running which will be 2 years old on the 4th of April 2026.

Films and TV shows like The Clockwork Orange, Misfits and Supacell were filmed at the estate among others.

🌊 Ten years ago, a wave of housing marches, occupations and direct actions shook the system. That wave proved that communities can reclaim housing estates as a legit form of protest highlighting the crisis of empty homes and people without homes, the annihilation and displacement of communities, the social cleansing, the gentrification...

But since then? Nothing. The crisis has only deepened, rents have soared, and demolition has been dressed up as “regeneration.” Our communities are being erased while politicians look the other way.

Now a new wave is here. Stronger, wider, and rising across the UK. From London to Manchester and beyond, from estates under threat to empty buildings waiting to be brought back to life – people are ready to stand up again.

This isn’t just protest. It’s reclaiming housing and dignity. It's solidarity. It’s unity through diversity. It's hope.

✊ Let’s make this a UK-wide movement. Let’s rise together.



(Game rules: just follow and use this hashtag on social media to connect up on actions and struggles in the housing movement )

10 years on.. the displacement and social cleansing of London's communities is still in overdrive... But there is a new wave of actions on the horizon... 🏘️✊🏼🌱🔥❤️

10 years anniversary of the birth of

UK BAILIFFS THREATEN SWEETSTOPIAN BORDERS: DEFEND SWEETSTOPIA
became the latest state to declare it's independance from the United Kingdom on July 7th. The Sweetstopians have written to UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon requesting urgent UN membershsip for Sweetstopia, as UK bailiffs have already threatened to invade and evict the fledgling utopian nation. Sweetstopian borders are open to economic migrants fleeing the UK Government's heartless austerity programme.
Support at the barricades would be much appreciated NOW! Postcode: N20 0NU, Barnet.
Nearest tube: Totteridge & Whetstone
email: [email protected]