FEARS have been expressed by Stratford residents over council plans to redevelop their estate.

Remaining leaseholders and freeholders on the Carpenters Estate were told at a Cabinet meeting that their homes will be bulldozed and they will be given the option of being rehoused on the redeveloped site.

Sheva Williams, 68, who has been a freeholder in Gibbons Road for 40 years, said: “The council cannot give me a home to compare with mine.”

Ms Williams expressed her worries that homeowners would only be able to afford part ownership of new properties on the estate because she said they had depreciated in value since redevelopment moves began.

The pensioner fears that her ownership of a new home would be shared with a private developer.

Fellow Gibbons Road freeholder Joseph Alexander, 43, called for a cast iron guarantee that residents who wanted to be rehoused on the site would be rehoused in “like for like” properties.

Osita Madu, 37, who is a leaseholder of a flat in Lund Point, said: “We are not against redevelopment but we want a guarantee of the right of return and for those who wish to leave that they will be given as fair market price for their property.” In response to the residents’ fears over being able to exchange their homes for full ownership of a new property on the estate, a spokesman for Newham Council said: “It is the council’s intention to work with residents to draw up a charter that will cover this issue amongst other items.

“The phase that may affect homeowners directly is some seven to ten years away.

“The council would like to firm up a proposal with residents that will address and mitigate any value differences but at this stage it is too early to expand on this until a detailed discussion with residents has taken place in the New Year.”

The spokesman added: “There has been no material impact on property values other than those prevailing in the wider market.”

Newham Mayor Sir Robin Wales reassured residents during the Cabinet meeting that they should not be any worse off and acknowledged the importance of them being able to stay in the borough and retain the community as it is.