Disrepair and depression in De Beauvoir – residents decry ‘whole heap’ of housing problems

St Martin’s Court on the De Beauvoir Estate. Photograph: Kate McFarlane

Residents on the De Beauvoir Estate are claiming housing conditions are “creating a general level of depression” with many properties allegedly left in disrepair.

The lower two floors of St Martin’s Court on the estate have been empty for almost six years according to the residents, leading to reports of alleged antisocial behaviour and squatting. Residents say many of the occupied properties also need repair and maintenance work. 

Kelly O’Neill, deputy chair of the De Beauvoir Tenants and Residents Association (DBTRA) , said: “It’s not just those empty properties that are neglected. It’s all of the buildings on our estate – it’s  the balconies, it’s the windows, there’s damp – there’s a whole heap of issues going on behind the scenes”.

Laurence Windle, chairman of the DBTRA, added that these problems created “a sort of general level of depression amongst people.”

Last year, Hackney Council unveiled a £150million regeneration project on the De Beauvoir Estate,  which included plans to build more than 300 new homes. This included plans to convert the vacant lots on St Martin’s Court into temporary accommodation for those in need.

The first floor of St Martin’s Court. Photograph: Kate McFarlane

However, O’Neill claims no timeframe has been given for this. 

“While they’re focusing on all the nice shiny new [homes], they’re not thinking about maintaining and looking after all the properties that they already have”, said O’Neill. 

“I think that a lot of people on the council do what they can, but they can’t do what they maybe want to,” added Windle.

The council has previously said the empty housing has not been renovated, in part, due to structural issues. But Kate McFarlane, chair of the De Beauvoir Association, claimed in an interview with the Citizen that this was “nonsense”. 

She said: “I used to be a building manager, there are no structural problems.

“When the squatters left St Martin’s Court, they broke some of the pipes, so the place flooded.” 

She claimed the council simply needed to “put some dehumidifiers in and clean the place up”. 

Councillor Guy Nicholson, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet member for Housing Management and Regeneration, said: “Funding to bring these homes back into use has been in place since October 2025, and architects  are shortly set to be commissioned and contract preparations are being made to start work to  convert the 49 empty homes on the De Beauvoir Estate into 70 modern temporary homes for  homeless families. 

“It is important that these homes provide suitable, warm and secure places to live and as they  were originally built with shared kitchens and bathrooms, they no longer meet today’s standards  that ensure that the dignity and privacy for homeless tenants is fully met.  

“Hackney is no different from many other London boroughs in facing a chronic housing supply  crisis that it is unable to meet the demand for with more than 7,800 people on its housing register in need of a suitable home”.