Barking’s Transformation: The Power of Place and People

I recently went back to the place where I spent the early years of my life, the Gascoigne Estate in Barking where my family lived before we moved to Hertfordshire.

Back then, the community felt tired. The lifts were often broken, vandalism was common, and there was little to connect people beyond their front doors of a communal floor in a tower block. Safety wasn’t a given, and there was no shared sense of pride in the wider community.

Today the transformation is remarkable. The Barking and Dagenham I visited with the ex-leader of Barking and Dagenham Council, Darren Rodwell as part of his Inclusive Growth Tour, is full of life. New homes, community hubs, and public spaces have breathed new life into the area. But it's not just the buildings, the community has been renewed.

Putting people first

The most successful regeneration projects start with the people. It's important to understand their needs, hopes, and challenges, and design spaces that help them thrive. This philosophy is at the heart of Barking’s regeneration, through inclusive growth and the community rent model.

Instead of delivering housing types in isolation, community tenure layers different tenures together, social housing, different affordable rent levels, and market rent, based on data-driven insights into the community’s needs. This approach not only reduced the housing waiting list, but also ensured the right homes went to the right people at the right cost.

The same thinking shaped our work on the Gascoigne Estate regeneration in Barking where we delivered more than 660 new homes across multiple phases. This included a mix of social, affordable and market rent properties. These homes were designed to the same high quality regardless of tenure to ensure every resident feels proud of where they live and belongs to a truly integrated community.

Community at the heart

What struck me most was how every development here has been designed to bring people together. On the ground floors of new buildings, you’ll find shared and welcoming spaces that belong to the whole community, whether you're living in market rent apartments or social housing.

One key example is the house for artist hub: a dedicated building where artists live at a reduced rent in exchange for donating their time and creativity to the community. They run workshops, donate artwork, and host events that draw people in from across the borough.

Another block offers exhibition spaces for local artists, hosting everything from history weeks with schoolchildren to cultural festivals that celebrate the borough’s 90+ spoken dialects.

Our approach while working in Barking was underpinned by this. On Gascoigne East Phase 2, we worked with students from local schools and residents to design and build EverDove Park. This saw us transform an unusable space into a vibrant green hub. We also built cycle hubs for the community and supported cultural and wellbeing activities with local charities, schools, and artists.

Partnerships that work

None of this happens in isolation. The council partnered with landowners like the Crown Estate to reclaim and revitalise riverside spaces, creating places the community can enjoy and take pride in. On the Gascoigne regeneration, our partnership with Be First has produced award-winning outcomes. Block J, the borough’s first net zero carbon building in use, delivered 124 affordable homes. Alongside this, our Block F2 Passivhaus homes achieve an extraordinary 61% carbon reduction.

I’m proud that Willmott Dixon was part of this journey. Our role was more than just delivering high-quality homes, it was about shaping neighbourhoods where people feel safe, supported, and connected. All of this achieved as part of well-planned community connected regeneration.

Why this matters

When residents were asked what they wanted for the future, their answer was simple: a better place for their children. That’s why inclusive growth and regeneration that engages the entire community is so important.

In total, our regeneration of the Gascoigne Estate delivered over 1,364 apprenticeship weeks, supported dozens of local people into employment, including residents from the estate itself, and delivered a social return on investment of over £13 million. For me, these outcomes show that regeneration is about changing lives as much as about delivering buildings.

Returning to Barking wasn’t just a trip down memory lane. It was a reminder of why I’m passionate about what we do in urban regeneration. It’s about more than construction, it’s about creating places with purpose, where communities can thrive long after we've finished on site.