Shelter suggested five year tenancies with rent rises linked to CPI inflation.
More recently, a report from the centre-right think tank Civitas also argued for rents to be held to inflation levels and indefinite tenancies to be offered as the norm.
Sources involved in negotiations over the future of the estate said that, while the likely deal gave hope that residents would be able to look forward to more secure tenancies and lower rents than if Westbrook had continued with its plans, the terms of the new tenancies are not yet known.
Labour is saying there should be fixed three-year tenancies, with predictable rent increases.
"We want rent controls and more secure tenancies.
Giles Peaker Giles Peaker, a partner at Anthony Gold Solicitors and housing expert, warns that it's vital to ensure students are given individual, rather than joint tenancies: "If students are on a joint tenancy the guarantors will be joint too, meaning that one poor parent could end up being chased for the rent arrears caused by someone else's vanishing child.
If this is about finding new tenancies offering more security on a voluntary basis, he says yes.
Their rents will be higher and it is not clear how secure their new tenancies will be.
Those with secure tenancies have been offered a newly built home on the estate, with the London & Quadrant housing association managing the social housing planned in the redevelopment project.
Labour (along with the Greens) put forward the most direct offer for private tenants: three-year secure tenancies, with capped increases on rents and a ban on letting agent fees.
Darian believes the biggest issue facing private renters is the fact that in the UK landlords tend to offer short-term tenancies of six months to a year, with a two-month notice period.
