A residents’ group on an estate slated for demolition as part of a major regeneration scheme have slammed the council’s latest housing offer as confusing and not transparent.

TAG Love Lane – a group representing people in temporary accommodation on Tottenham’s Love Lane Estate – want Haringey Council to guarantee they will receive permanent homes at social rent levels.

Their flats are set to be knocked down to make way for the 2,500-home High Road West scheme – and under Greater London Authority rules, a majority of residents have to vote ‘yes’ to demolition before it can go ahead.

Haringey Council wants to significantly increase the number of council-owned social-rent homes on the High Road West development and prioritise eligible non-secure tenants for new homes.

But TAG Love Lane claims there is no guarantee they will be offered homes at social rents, which are the lowest-cost type of housing.

TAG chair Joanna Morrison said: “The offer of secure tenancy for temporary accommodation residents might not actually be a council-rent home but instead a housing association flat at higher rent than council rent levels.

“Whatever the merits of the alleged offer, it is not legally binding. So, the deal from Haringey Council is ‘agree to the demolition of your home and we might be able to offer something in the future’.

“The council are not being transparent. They want a ‘yes’ vote, but they are not being as transparent as they can be.

“I feel like none of the options given are very clear for temporary accommodation residents. It is still not going to say, ‘you are going to get a new-build on the estate’. Everyone is still confused.

“If you vote ‘no’, they could discharge their duty. If you vote yes, you may not get the property. At the end of the day, it is a money-making business.”

Ms Morrison said many Love Lane residents had been on the borough’s housing waiting list for years before being housed on the estate – without knowing it would eventually be demolished.

She added that if people were put into higher-cost private accommodation, they may find it hard to make ends meet. If they were then evicted, they would go back on the housing waiting list – and their long wait for housing would start again.

Haringey Council said its local lettings policy, if adopted, would provide a firm commitment to deliver new council homes for tenants living in temporary accommodation on the Love Lane Estate, as part of the delivery of High Road West.

It added that a consultation on the policy and a ballot will take place once it is possible to do so following the coronavirus crisis restrictions.

Cllr Emine Ibrahim, cabinet member for housing and estate renewal, said: “We have said from day one that we are working to get a positive resolution for temporary accommodation tenants on the Love Lane Estate.

“Some tenants were worried that when we redeveloped the area, there would be nothing for them. We are now working tirelessly to deliver extra council homes as part of the High Road West scheme.

“At the start of March, the council’s cabinet agreed to consult those affected on a Local Lettings Policy, which includes an offer of a council-owned, social rent home at High Road West for non-secure tenants who have lived in temporary accommodation on the Love Lane Estate for at least a year. The offer is subject to the outcomes of the consultation and ballot.

“Our aim is to significantly increase the number of council-owned social rent homes and keep the existing community together.”