A LANDLORD has sold 78 Lee Green homes despite families protesting against the decision.

The Crown Estate has sold the properties for £140.8m to Peabody, a charitable housing association.

The sale also includes more than 1,000 homes across Westminster, Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Camden.

Residents in Lee Green held numerous protests and set up a petition last year to try and prevent the sale.

Jill Goldsmith, of Cambridge Drive, said: “I’m very disappointed. The sad thing is the voice of the people really doesn’t count and they have gone ahead and done what they wanted to do.”

Mrs Goldsmith, who has lived on the estate for 30 years, says she fears having to change her current tenancy agreement despite assurances that things would not change.

She added: “I’m a regulated tenant and they don’t have regulated tenancy so I will have a shift on my hands.

“For the elderly people on the estate it’s very distressing.”

News Shopper: Councillors and residents protested against the Crown Estate The Crown Estate is a statutory corporation run on commercial lines by Crown Estate Commissioners.

It has a property portfolio worth more than £6bn and each year generates millions of pounds for the Treasury.

The sale of the estates was subject to conditions imposed by The Crown Estate’s Board.

It means Peabody is legally bound to continue lettings to keyworkers at the same level as The Crown Estate and it must honour existing residents’ specified rights in a number of areas including how rents are set, succession rights and their security of tenure.

Chief executive of Peabody, Stephen Howlett, said: “I’m delighted to welcome these fantastic communities into the Peabody family.

“By preserving arrangements for keyworkers, by honouring existing tenancy rights, and by offering an exciting portfolio of additional community services to residents, we believe we are worthy successors to The Crown Estate legacy.”