Regent's Park Estate is a large

housing estate A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex, housing development, subdivision (land), subdivision or community) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to count ...

in the

London Borough of Camden The London Borough of Camden () is a London boroughs, borough in Inner London, England. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the former Metropolitan boroughs of the Cou ...

. The estate consists of nearly 2,000 homes across 49 buildings and lies on either side of Robert Street, between

Albany Street Albany Street is a road in London running from Marylebone Road to Gloucester Gate following the east side of Regent's Park. It is about three-quarters of a mile in length. History The street was laid out during the 1820s, and takes its nam ...

and Hampstead Road. It is immediately to the east of the

Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the London Borough of Camden, Borough of Camden (and historical ...

estate owned by the

Crown Estate The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's priva ...

. The estate includes the sites of

Cumberland Market Cumberland Market was a London market between Regent's Park and Euston railway station. It was built in the early 19th century and was London's hay and straw market for a hundred years until the late 1920s. An arm of the Regent's Canal was buil ...

, Munster Square and Clarence Gardens. The estate mainly comprises

council housing Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council housing or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011, when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in social housing. D ...

built in the 1950s by the leading architects of the day such as Frederick MacManus and owned or formerly owned by the London Borough of Camden. It stands on land sold in 1951 by the

to the

Metropolitan Borough of St Pancras St Pancras was a civil parish and Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, metropolitan borough in London, England. It was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, governed by an administrative vestry. The parish was included in the ar ...

, following the destruction of most of the John Nash designed public housing in the area during the

London Blitz London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. London stands on the River Tha ...

. New blocks are planned to be built on-site to replace the 182 homes (136 for social rent and 24 privately owned under

Right to Buy The Right to Buy scheme is a policy in the United Kingdom, with the exception of Scotland since 1 August 2016 and Wales from 26 January 2019, which gives Secure tenancy, secure tenants of Council house, councils and some housing associations the N ...

) that are to be lost with the demolition of the Eskdale, Ainsdale, and Silverdale blocks (possibly followed by the demolition Langdale, Coniston, and Cartmel blocks) located on the northwestern edge of the estate next to the railway line as part of the construction of the new London-Birmingham high-speed rail line (known as

HS2 High Speed 2 (HS2) is a high-speed railway which has been under construction in England since 2019. The line's planned route is between Handsacre – in southern Staffordshire – and London, with a branch to Birmingham. HS2 is to be Britain ...

) and an expanded

Euston Station Euston railway station ( ; or London Euston) is a major London station group, central London railway terminus and Euston tube station, connected London Underground station managed by Network Rail in the London Borough of Camden. It is the sout ...

. Camden Council, which consistently objected to the demolition, has produced area plans for regeneration that include a mix of infill development of new tower blocks and creating additional floors on existing buildings, as well as the replacement of local amenities such as a local pub and shops that will be lost to demolition in the area. The estate will house a total of 94 replacement units, while the nearby Netley development will provide 70 replacement homes; Regent's Park Estate will also see 22 units built ''in addition'' to the replacement scheme. Among the total 116 new homes on Regent's Park Estate (counting both "replacement" and "new" homes), 84 will be for social rent, 34 "intermediate" (London Affordable Rent or London Living Rent), and 10 will be market rate homes. The estate is served by two state primary schools adjoining the estate: Netley Primary School and Christ Church School Most of the Estate is named after places in the Lake District such as Windermere, Cartmel, Rydal Water (see also Street names of Regent's Park).

Munster Square

Munster Square is a

garden square A garden square is a type of communal garden in an urban area wholly or substantially surrounded by buildings; commonly, it continues to be applied to public and private parks formed after such a garden becomes accessible to the public at large. ...

in the estate (). It was formerly called 'York Market' and 'York Square'. It was created by John Nash as the most southern of the three market squares serving Regents Park area, south of Clarence Gardens and

. The square was originally surrounded by Nash-designed terraces but was badly damaged in

the Blitz The Blitz (English: "flash") was a Nazi Germany, German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, for eight months, from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941, during the Second World War. Towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940, a co ...

so was demolished and rebuilt as part of the estate after the war. The middle of the square is a public park. The square is home of grade II*-listed St Mary Magdalene Church. It was scene of a widely reported murder in 2019.

References

External links

* {{coord, 51.5285, -0.1412, type:landmark_region:GB-CMD, display=title Housing estates in the London Borough of Camden 1950s establishments in England