Dagenham sink estate’s £80 million revamp

The old Mardyke estate in Dagenham has been transformed as part of an £80 million regeneration project (Image: Archant)

After five years in the making, the £80 million Orchard Village regeneration project on the former Mardyke Estate in Dagenham is seeing people literally queuing for homes.

Emmanuel Twum has recently moved in to the new Orchard Village in Dagenham (Image: Archant)

A one-bedroom flat recently received 225 applications from the London Borough of Havering and two two-bedroom and two three-bedroom properties available received a total of 445 nominations.

Regeneration on the estate once plagued by anti-social behaviour, crime and delapidated buildings has been carried out by Old Ford Housing Association.

June Ford, Managing Director of Old Ford Housing Association, said: “When it was the old sink estate, nobody wanted to move there. Now, I’m delighted to say, there are hundreds of people queuing up to live in Orchard Village.”

He added: “Residents have joined together with us to tackle anti-social behaviour and laid the foundation for building a better new community.”

The estate was originally built to house workers from the nearby old Ford Motor Company factory but rapidly declined when the company laid off workers.

In March 2008 Old Ford took over the management of approximately 500 homes and when complete will see 550 new homes created.

The transformation has seen most of the existing properties, including six tower blocks, demolished and replaced with modern high quality low-rise homes.

Emmanuel Twum, who recently moved into a three-bedroom flat as part of phase two of the development, said: “Orchard Village is going to be a great place to live and there’s a real sense of community here. Other residents are friendly and it feels like a very safe neighbourhood.”