08/09/2014 Inside Out London

Hello there, I'm Matthew Wrhght and you're watching Inside Out London...

It was designed to help people get onto the property ladder.

I saved up hard and worked two jobs to earn the money.

But why has the Right to Bux dream turned sour for some?

I brought this property thinking it would bring me peace, but it

How little Lilly helped bring a pioneering cancer treatment to

to bring these innovative treatments into the UK and we can help all of

And ` we get a sneak preview of the City's heritage gems as they go

opportunity to see our extra special treasures, our Magn` Cartas

Over the last few decades, Right to Buy schemes have hdlped

thousands of council tenants to buy their own homes.

But for some, this has provdd to be a poisoned chalice.

We've discovered that some homeowners are being forced to sell

their properties at well below market rates to make way

for redevelopers, leaving many facing financi`l ruin.

We sent property expert Lukd Doonan to investigate.

They were once stigmatised by sky`high rates of crime and poverty.

But these days flats on est`tes like this are being snapped up `

with tens of thousands sold at cut`price rates under right`to`buy.

Now the government wants more Londoners to sign up to the deal.

It recently increased the m`ximum discount for council tenants wishing

It's being sold as the opportunity of a lifdtime,

the chance for families frol humble beginnings to get a secure footing

But the right to buy scheme may not be as good a deal as it appdars

I think that people who bought under right to buy on council est`tes can

To end up with a property like this...

I bought this property thinking it would bring me peace but it's

So we are in modern developlent in Bermondsey Square near

In fact this place is a bit like her current home which is also

This is a comparable size to what you have.

From here you are only a mile to where you live.

But that's where the similarities end!

This flat is six times more than the value of your property.

This place is on the market for ?675,000!

Yet according to Southwark council, Beverly's home is only worth

When Beverly bought her Southwark flat on the Aylesbury estatd over

a decade ago, she was assurdd it was a great investment.

You bought the property from the council.

They were encouraging peopld to do the right to buy.

They had this new scheme and we got a discount of 38$ of

Even with a reduction, buying this flat was a struggle for Bevdrly

I saved hard and worked two jobs to earn

I literally worked from nine to five and then six until

midnight and I was really h`ppy that I was able to buy my own hole.

But five years ago Beverly received a letter from Southwark council

revealing that all she had worked for,

I'm going to be moved out basically because council

regeneration are taking our homes under compulsory purchase.

The compulsory purchase orddr means Southwark council can legally

They've agreed to reimburse her for the property but Beverlx

Initially I received an offdr from Southwark of ?65k.

It's gone up to 117k ` that's their final offer.

Have you had a private evaluation?

One initially at ?240k and just recently another at ?2 0k.

As a property developer, I think Beverly's home is now worth about

?300k ` that's more than dotble the sum the council have put on the

Which is a big difference from what they are offering me

It's just unbelievable ` just like a nightmare.

Beverly's not the only one having sleepless nights

Several of her neighbours, also leaseholders,

are facing the loss of their homes and possible financial ruin.

The council valued my property at 80,000!

There is quite a discrepancx between what the property is valued at by

The council are offering me ?14 k for my three bedroom property and

through my research I've iddntified within the area I am living

in a property is going for the average property price of ?385k

All over London, dozens of aging council estates, p`st their

Woodberry Downs in Hackney has gone from this to this.

These luxury apartment blocks now house many of the counchl

The regeneration that's happening in Woodberry Down is probably the best

I used to be embarrassed to invite friends from other areas rotnd to

Regeneration has been great news for council residents all over

Back in Southwark, once the Aylesbury estate h`s been

modernised, all the council tenants will be automatically transferred to

one of the new flats or givdn a home somewhere else in the borough.

Just ringing to tell you I got the bad news.

I just received my, I think it's my notice

But Beverly has just opened a letter warning that she m`y have

She now has no choice but to try and find a new home elsewhere.

It is. We've come to Hither Green in Lewisham where Estate agdnt

Andrew, is showing her one of the very few properties hn London

It leads right into the bathroom, and the kitchen is tiny!

So you live in here and sledp in here.

No I am actually getting shhvers at the moment because I feel very

I can't believe I've worked all my life to end up with a hole

I think I need to step out for a few minutes.

You must have some sympathy for leaseholders that thought they

The estate is in desperate need of regeneration and we are buying

out leaseholders but we are doing everything we can to work whth them.

I'm raising some of the concerns of the homeowners on the Aylesbury

estate with the head of Southwark's regeneration programmes. Whx are

they being offered less than 50 of the market value for their

They are being offered markdt values for their properties.

They are being offered markdt value plus 10% for the

It's not market value, it's what you've valued the properties as

We are offering leaseholders a fair price.

It just seems easier to be ` tenant and a lot harder to be a le`seholder

What's in place for those asked to leave their homes?

We are offering leaseholders a range of options from shared

equity to shared ownership on or nearby the state if they choose

But Beverly and her neighbotrs say unless the council offer thdm more

cash for their current homes, the new properties will be out of their

reach. Leaseholders can't even afford to come back on propdrty

400k. If you do offer me solewhere to live,

Across London, on the West Hendon estate leaseholders have bedn living

under the threat of a Compulsory Purchase Order for over a ddcade.

They were first informed about it in 2002 when the council announced

Everything was recognised in 2003 that

All the buildings would be finished and completed

and everybody would be moved into their new homes by September 20 2.

But that date passed with no action and two years on the deadline has

In the meantime, Jasmin and all the other leaseholders on this

estate have their capital locked in homes they just can't sell.

We know areas where people have been under threat of CPOs for ye`rs

and years and they are very stuck. We've been in limbo since 2002 and

Walk away in debt is about the only option that we do have

With the bulldozers looming over Southwark, the homeowners h`ve

We've come in here today to get an action plan to challenge because we

On the grounds that are valuations are too low.

They are using this as an excuse to move us out of the area.

They are moving all the people out of the area.

It may seem a long shot, but what's at stake is everxthing

they have ever owned ` their homes and their futurd.

I regret buying under right`to`buy because the council has robbed me

of my property and I will lose everything.

Because I feel within the ndxt few months I will be homeless.

Luke Doonan reporting there. Now then ` still to come on tonhght s

show. Drunkenness, particularly along

women is still on the incre`se in the Old Kent Road. Dear, oh dear.

The story of Ashya King, thd little boy removed from Southampton

Hospital by his parents, shows just how desperate people can get when

potentially life`saving cancer treatments are available abroad but

not on the NHS. Two years ago, we brought you the story of little

Lilly MacGlashan, whose pardnts were in a similar position to Ashya's.

But thanks to an American trial vaccine, her cancer is now hn full

remission. Lilly's story inspired a cancer charity so much that they're

now bringing the treatment over to the UK to help other childrdn. Mark

Jordan has the story. We are at war with cancer `

we've had our victories but some Each parent

at this gathering knows thehr child might die from neuroblastom` `

a rare childhood cancer The way of thinking around the world `

literally ` is that once yot relapse with high risk neuroblastom` you

have no chance of survival. What do you do when respectdd

foreign doctors tell you thdy The figures in America give

a 20`30% extra chance We had to raise funds to get our

child to America for treatmdnt. It must be terrible to think no

options available here But by the end of the year ` this

same doctor will be administering of America's most promising trials

right here in Britain. This is a story of faith,

hope and charity. How ordinary people dug deep

and reached for the clouds, cutting through the bureaucracy, thd NHS

and the drug companies ` rahsing enough for one of the most promising

trials to come to Britain. We have gotten to

the point where when someond isn't To understand why these tri`ls bring

such hope you need to meet You can see how veined

her stomach was. Over the years I've been filming

her incredible journey. In 2011 NHS doctors said thdy could

do no more It spread to her brain

and her spine. We were taken in an office

and told 'take some photos and make the best of it ` it will

come back and be lethal. I sat on my stairs

and screamed ` I'll research it on Granny's laptop discovered

a prestigious American cancdr hospital offering

a promising trial treatment. About 75%

of our children seem to grow up Lilly's 8H9 treatment at

Memorial Sloan Kettering cost ? .2 The check ups go on Up to now

they have all been N.E.D Amazing, two years on seeing her,

how has she been? Lilly is doing ready well, she's full of mhschief,

and she is ready wilful and she loves life. And at one point, the

NHS told you there was no hope. They did and if we had listened, we

wouldn't be sitting here now. And that's why charities like JACK

and Neuroblastoma Alliance Here, Met and Essex police officers

run a half marathon in New Xork Richard Brown lost

his son Jack to the disease ` yet he is still running

so that others might survivd. There was no more applicabld

treatment in the UK. They couldn't define the disease

and he was sent home. You have big burly cops who

have been reduced to tears. Parents shouldn't have to btry

their kids. Other EU governments, like Greece,

pay for their kids to come to Memorial Sloan Kettering for

treatment ` but not the NHS, which leaves child cancer charities

in the awful position of picking which child they can pay

to send here. It was very costly but she wouldn't

be here today if it wasn't for that. As much as we would like to say we

can bring them all abroad, it's just too expensive `

and we couldn't sustainably fund it, so we are trying to bring

treatments into the UK. With ?300,000 raised, they `sked

a medical panel to pick the most They chose a vaccine from

Sloan Kettering that hopes to teach Three years into the New York study,

12 of the 15 children remain It's a great joy to see

somebody with a high`risk disease relapse

and everyone writes them off ` and here they are disease`free, enjoying

life and growing up like thdy ought By the end of the year, this

trial will expand to the Brhstol Available free on the NHS `

the vaccine paid for by charity Bringing this trial over to the UK `

which otherwise would operate in the USA ` I think is transformational

and entirely down to them. Without their funding,

we would not be doing this study. It'll come to us eventually `

but it will come five, ten xears That would be too late

for these families. Although promising, the doctor

understands why the NHS left How could you spend this amount of

money on something that is tnproven? We are going to treat 12

patients with this money. It's a matter of priorities

and what can be brought into the NHS But there are still 13

patients out of 15 alive. I'd rather be

in that group than one that says Britain's Institute of

Cancer Research welcome the charity paying for

a vital trial because drug companies often see no profit in testhng their

best drugs on rare child cancers. Certain cancer drugs that are active

in adult treatments are not required to be tested in children

and therefore are not avail`ble Less than 25%

of drugs have reached children. That is frustrating for clinicians

and parents. So against all these odds,

Lilly is well and back home. But it's not all been

smooth sailing. The American doctors that rdversed

the NHS's terminal diagnosis asked only that the UK then provide them

with regular, simple MRI sc`ns. We've come back

thinking her follow up is jtst MRI and they were saying "No,

they don't do that over herd." The best you can do

for that child is to carry out a few tests every three to four months

for a couple of years, so that if you find something, it's a better

chance of getting it under control. Charity had raised over ?1 lillion

to save Lilly but the NHS Only when the MacGlashens' LP

demanded it was It was really difficult to trust

the British doctors again, but a plan has come up

and now things are a lot better She has changed the protocol here

and it's amazing that they `re starting to bring the treatlent over

here. They are getting the Latest,

the most advanced. Not all trails succeed,

but it's little miracles like Lilly that now put so much hope

on the one in Bristol. This Friday, a brand new gallery

will be opening right It will give the public

a chance to see with their own eyes some of the highlights of the City's

priceless collection of herhtage treasures ` all intimately connected

to the capital's rich history. Maxwell Hutchinson took

a sneak preview The City of London `

the capital's financial hub, Tucked away between the skyscrapers

and trading floors is the Gtildhall, the powerhouse of the ancient City

and today the headquarters I'm in the basement of the Guildhall

Art Gallery, where they've just Now, it might not look very much

at the moment, but for everxbody who loves London as much as I do,

it's going to be very excithng. I'm in great anticipation

of the wonderful archives that are The treasures going into thd gallery

have been selected from the City's vast historical collections, kept

safe at the London Metropolhtan There are going to be about eight to

ten items that we will alwaxs have And they'll be

our extra special treasures. They will never have been

on this kind of permanent dhsplay before, so hopefully members

of the public will have a great opportunity to see a shop whndow

on what we've got here at LLA. At the core of the new colldction

will be an extremely rare copy of probably the most famous document

in all of English history. This is one of our special hconic

documents, this is a Magna Carta. It's very well preserved, isn't it,

after all this time? It is, and it's really becatse it's

been preserved in one place From the 13th century,

only 17 copies survive, of which this one is generally accepted

to be in the best condition. Magna Carta was first issued in 1215

to prevent civil war between King It contained some earth`shattering

ideas about liberty, But it also established somd

important things That little line along therd is a

clause saying that the City of London could mahntain

its ancient liberties and ctstoms. And it's the only city that's

named in Magna Carta. Well, it is a beautiful thing

but they made a mistake down here. It is actually the covering note

to the sheriffs of London. We've heard about the Sheriff

of Nottingham in Robin Hood, but actually there were sheriffs

of London. Magna Carta may be taking pride

of place in the new Gallery, but there's another document going

on display that's even older. It dates from 1067, so it's shortly

after the battle of Hastings, It dates from 1067, so it's shortly

after the Battle of Hastings, and it's another royal charter,

but this time it's from William the What William's doing in the charter

is confirming inheritance whll "Each child be

his father's inheritance taker" Oh, I see ` so it's enshrinhng in

law And also saying he is not

going to change the law. And saying he's not

going to nick it! But what else has been

deemed worthy of display? When choosing what to put

in the new Gallery, the Citx Here at the Metropolitan Archives

in Clerkenwell, there are literally millions

of books, documents and letters A little bit of celebrity status

never harms. And celebrities don't come luch

bigger than the Great Bard himself. It's a title deed, Maxwell,

and what makes it special is that it's a property that was sold to

William Shakespeare, and wh`t makes it extra special is that it is one

of only six documents in thd world And where was

the property that he bought? One of the theories is that

the Blackfriars Theatre was where his company the King's Men put

on their plays in the winter. Another theory is that it w`s

an astute property investment. He actually lived

in Stratford most of the tile. So he was an investor `

a property investor! Yes, not how we think

of Shakespeare. It's not how we think about him

at all! It is important that as part

of our picture of Shakespeare that we recl`im him

as a Londoner, if you like. And I think

the deed helps us do that. Another item

of celebrity memorabilia is a diary belonging to the 17th

century scientist, architect This is amazing ` it's completely

illegible but it's There's so many things buzzhng

round. So many experiments he wants to do,

important conversations he's had So this tells us a huge amotnt

about what life was like He went to the theatre, he looked

at the progress of buildings. The treasures on display won't just

tell us about the lives They'll also reflect the cataclysmic

events that have affected all This is a volume of minutes

from the London County Council ` it's their emergency committee

which they set up just after the A theme

which comes up quite regularly is Well, presumably these are

the young wives of And now suddenly they're

receiving the army income. The reports in here suggest that

women have more money than they're accustomed to having

and, as a result, some of them are actually spending

quite a lot of time in the pubs "Drunkenness, particularly `mong

women, is still on the incrdase "in the Old Kent Road betwedn 9 30

and 11am. From this Friday, the first set

of treasures will go on display ` In this modern city of steel

and glass, it's useful to bd reminded of the extraordinary

stories of everyday life th`t help Maxwell Hutchinson there, something

of a heritage treasure himsdlf, I should say. And if you want more

information on that gallery, I will give you the address in a moment,

but first, a quick look at what is coming up on next week's pension

special. We reveal how the biggest scam in the pensions industry is

leaving victims penniless. There are numerous people who have sahd to me

that they sometimes feel th`t the only way out of this misery is to

commit suicide. We investigate why so many of us are

turning our backs on pensioners Who has got a pension on the bus? `` on

pensions. Who hasn't got a pension? The first thing we have to do is get

millions of people into a pdnsion at all, starting with young people and

get people to build on that basic minimum.

And could London be the best place to retire to? Older people `re

relaxed, they have learned to deal with London, they can afford it

they like the place, they lhke everything about it. That is it from

Inside Out. If you have missed any tonight's show and would like to

catch`up on the BBC iPlayer or would like information on the Herhtage

Gallery, head to the websitd. Thank you very much for watching, I will

see you again next week.