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We Are England

Series 1

Hanging On To Home

Duration: 29 minutes

First broadcast: on BBC One LondonLatest broadcast: on BBC One Oxfordshire HD

Available for years

Along with his wife and two daughters, Yacob Woldehiwot lives in what he describes as his dream home - a fourth-floor flat in West London. It’s a spacious one-bedroom property with panoramic views of London’s skyline, great transport links and a tightly knit, long-standing community.

Yacob says he saved every penny to buy his property on the South Acton estate nearly two decades ago, intending it to be his home for life and an inheritance for his kids. But now Ealing council wants to demolish it to make way for a £600m regeneration programme. The other blocks in the estate are already being bulldozed, and Yacob’s family are the only people left living in this once-busy community.

The council are offering to buy his home, but Yacob claims their offer is below the market rate. He says that since the demolition work started, the council have neglected his block. Over 100 other council estates in the capital are earmarked for demolition, or are already being demolished.

Despite the cranes and wrecking balls looming on their doorstep, the Woldehiwots say they are determined to fight and are staying put. Show less

Contributors

Executive Producer:
Nisha Lilia Diu
Executive Producer:
Sarah Trigg
Commissioning Editor:
Aisling O'Connor
Director:
Zack Adesina

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