Tenants of the property have been forced to relocate amid council regeneration plans

More than 100 tenants in south London have been told they must leave their homes under council estate regeneration plans.

Private tenants had moved into properties earmarked for regeneration and partial demolition by Lambeth Council.

They are now being told they have to find somewhere else to live when their leases end to fit the plans – with one telling the Standard he felt “lied to”.

Lambeth Council said it is buying back tenants’ properties to help homeless families and will offer support to affected families whose tenancies are not renewed.

Alson Sonanburg, a lecturer, has lived at the property in Gipsy Hill’s Central Hill Estate for two years but has now been told he must leave by November.

He says he has to stay on the estate to take care of his elderly mother, whom he visits daily, adding that he could not find anywhere else in the area that could accommodate his partner and their two children for the same price . .

“For me, it’s like moving will destroy my whole family, to be honest with you,” he said.

“My mother is a person who needs daily assistance, I have to go to her for medicine. So this is going to be very difficult.

“And the other reason I moved here is because I’m part of the local church community, I’m very active, my kids really enjoy the area and they go to school here.”

Mr Sonanburg said he would never have rented the property if he had known it was short-term, saying a neighbor had only been in their home for three weeks before being told to leave.

“Lambeth must apologize for lying to us and treating us in this way,” he said.

Some tenants on Fenwick Estate in Clapham and Cressingham Garden Estates in Brockwell Park are also affected.

Ahead of the plans, which are due to be finalised, council officials have started buying back tenants’ properties, with some people in temporary accommodation being able to move into social rented homes on the estates.

Some former tenants’ properties were then reoccupied by private tenants, some of whom say they were unaware that Lambeth Council was the ultimate owner.

A council spokesman said it plans to use tenants’ properties it has bought back to house homeless families.

But Pete Elliott, a former Central Hill Estate tenant, said there were empty houses on the estates that would need to be filled first.

The former Green Party councilor told the BBC: “There is no reason to evict private tenants – they are paying a lot of money for rent.

“There are empty homes on the estate to move people into from temporary housing.

“We have dozens of empty houses in the five estates they want to regenerate.”

A council spokesman said it was “looking to use all the properties it can to support those families most affected by the housing crisis”.

“The properties in question are former Right to Buy homes which the council has bought back and we intend to use them to provide vital homes for homeless families in our borough,” the spokesman said.

“These properties were let to private fixed-term tenants as Assured Shorthold Tenancies and this was always intended to be a short-term measure.

“Tenants have been advised that when their current fixed term tenancies come to an end, they will not be renewed.

“Agencies managing tenancies on behalf of Homes for Lambeth have contacted tenants to let them know their tenancy will not be renewed and, where appropriate, to offer support to help them find alternative accommodation.”