Zack Polanski visited a Lewisham housing estate on Thursday in a bid to spotlight ‘failing Labour councils’ following the Green Party’s local election campaign launch.
Polanski, joined by newly elected Gorton and Denton MP Hannah Spencer, spoke to residents at the Winslade Estate in south east London about the problems facing housing and community spaces which they claim have been neglected by the local government.
Earlier that day, the Green Party leader heavily criticised Labour-controlled councils for insufficient provision of social and affordable housing, as well as the government’s ‘complicity’ in genocide in Gaza and the Iran war.
Hannah Spencer MP said: “It’s really clear that a lot of the people who have so much power and make so many decisions just don’t really know what life is like for everyday people that make up the vast majority of this country.
“It is that frustration that is up and down the country, and now people are finding that the people in the parties they’ve trusted for a really long time have just been failing entire communities.
“The frustration is there and the anger is there, but it does feel like there is now hope and a chance to try and change things.”
Along with boroughs such as Hackney, Islington, and Lambeth, the Greens have identified Lewisham as a target in May’s elections following the defection of four Labour councillors to Polanski’s party since March 2025, including mayoral candidate Liam Shrivastava.
At their campaign launch, the Greens outlined plans to support housebuilding based on local needs rather than profit and pledged to fight for rent controls.
Polanski’s strategy appears to be stepping up efforts to attract younger urban voters suffering from London’s housing crisis – an issue that was highlighted as a major concern in boroughs the Greens are targeting according to an internal party memo, The Times reported.
Residents at the Winslade Estate told Polanski and Spencer that their community had become a ‘ghetto’ and a ‘forgotten estate’, with bins piling up on the roadside and houses in disrepair after funding to support residents had dried up.
One resident said: “Thirty-odd years ago this was a really nice estate. They were doing their job, they were cleaning up, fixing things. Now it’s just gone to pot.”
A special investigation into Lewisham Council by the Housing Ombudsmen in October 2025 found maladministration in 92% of council housing cases investigated in the borough, which at the time had a wait list of over 10,500 people.
Cllr Shrivastava said: “With these crumbling estates that have not been properly maintained, when [the council] finally get around to do the major works programme the leaseholders get hit with absolutely astronomical bills.
“Why should leaseholders have to pick up the bill for the neglect and disrepair that the council has allowed to happen?”
However, Polanski’s opponents in Labour have criticised his ‘hypocritical’ promises, claiming that the Greens have blocked construction of at least 42,000 homes in the last eight years.
When challenged on his plans to meet housing targets, Polanski said: “What we see far too often with Labour councils is that they are building luxury, unaffordable buildings that no one’s going to live in.
“If a development is being blocked because it’s an unaffordable luxury development, then I’m proud of any Green Party council that does that.
“We need to make sure that we are building the homes that people actually need, that are fit to live in, that are affordable and accessible.”
Sarah Grindley, a resident of the estate since she was ten-months old, said she has recently joined the Green Party after having previously voted Labour.
“I have a neighbour who has such bad condensation and damp on his windows that he has water running down his walls,” she said.
“It’s not easy but we wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. As much as it is horrible living conditions for a lot of people, the community spirit that we’ve got here you’re not going to find in many other places.
“It’s just a shame that the council doesn’t want to improve it for the people that live here.”
Polling suggests the Greens will make inroads into the Lewisham council where Labour won all 54 seats in the 2022 local elections, with PollCheck predicting Labour to lose 17 seats and the Greens to gain 16.
While such a result would be a large loss for Labour, this forecast would not mean that the Greens surpass the 28 seats required in Lewisham to gain control over the council.
Featured image credit: Hamish McCorriston
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