Residents and lawyers remain sceptical of promises by Henley Homes, who built and own London development where poorer children were blocked from a shared playground

The developer that built and owns the housing complex where children of social housing were barred from using shared playgrounds has now said all children can play there, following a Guardian Cities investigation.

It was revealed that children living in the social housing part of the site were not allowed to use the play area, which their parents were originally led to believe would be shared space.

The story drew widespread condemnation, including from Jeremy Corbyn and the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. Even the government joined in, with the Conservative housing secretary, James Brokenshire, calling it “outrageous” and demanding the developers immediately open the playground to all children.

Today, in his statement for Henley Homes, Tariq Usmani said there had never been any intention to bar children from social housing from the play areas.

He said: “As a company, we have no objection to the residents of Wren Mews, a freehold owned and managed by the Guinness Partnership, having access to the play areas and amenities of Baylis Old School. We have never had any objection.”

However, residents from all parts of the site, both private and social, spent months asking the housing management companies and Lambeth Council to open up access to all children.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A letter sent by the Guinness Partnership to Wren Mews residents last year telling them not to use the communal leisure area. Photograph: Handout

Residents also say the assurances don’t mean very much until the barriers officially come down. They have instructed a team of lawyers to explore the possibility of legal action.

The Guinness Partnership, which manages the social housing areas, issued its own statement, claiming that it, too, wants children to have access to the play sites. It said: “Henley Homes and the Guinness Partnership are in absolute agreement that all customers should have access to all play areas and amenities. We are now working with Warwick Estates, who manage the private development, to ensure that this happens as soon as possible.”

Residents said the statement does not go far enough, and they want to see the wall blocking their path to the play area removed, and free gates installed.

“I don’t believe them,” said Danielle Rea, who lives in Wren Mews, the social housing element of the complex, with her three children. “I will believe it when I see a gate and the wall is removed.”

Rea’s 10-year-old son uses a wheelchair. She accepted the flat believing that he would be able to use his special exercise bike in the shared spaces. However, when she moved in, she said Guinness told her that her children were not allowed to use the play spaces that their apartment overlooks.

“They told us not to go there,” she insisted, responding to Guinness’s latest declaration. “In this building we got letters when it was sunny telling us to keep out of there.”

Her neighbours across the barriers, in the privately owned section, also said they were surprised by the comments from Henley and Guinness.

“We wrote to Henley last summer telling them we had issues with play on the estate and wanted them to help resolve them. We had no response,” said Louise Whitley, owner of one of the private flats.

“We have spent several months trying to get this situation changed, contacting everyone involved that we could including the developers and Lambeth Council.”

Since the Guardian’s report, Lambeth Council has issued statements condemning the segregation.

Matthew Bennett, Lambeth’s cabinet member for planning investment and new homes, said: “We welcome reports that the developer will be making play areas open to all at Wren Mews. We will be monitoring and holding them to account.”

Guardian Cities has seen a document showing that the hedges and wall were, in fact, placed on the site by Henley Homes without planning permission.

Lambeth refused the application in 2016, telling Henley that the changes – which cut social housing residents off from the play area – did not count as “non material”: they were not minor changes and could not be approved after planning consultation had finished.

Bennett said: “We can categorically say that we did not approve any proposed measures that would segregate the play area. We are investigating what legal powers we have to ensure that any restriction of access is removed. Unfortunately, council powers to enforce equal access are limited and new powers given to councils to do this by the Mayor of London in 2016 cannot be enforced retrospectively.”

Warwick Estates, which manages the private part of the building, originally defended the separate play areas.

A spokesperson for Warwick told the Guardian: “Although ... the block overlooks the swing area, the residents have no access to it ... for [a] very good reason – being that [they] do not contribute towards the services charges.”

Warwick did not respond to further requests for comment today.

Martin George, associate professor of property law at the University of Leicester, is part of a group of senior housing lawyers that has been instructed by the residents of Wren Mews residents to explore legal avenues over the failure to provide access.

“Just because Henley have said they will allow these social housing children access to the playground, doesn’t change very much,” said George, who convened the group of lawyers after reading the Guardian Cities investigation. They will be acting pro bono.

“They need to provide access in a functional way. At the moment their assurance that children will be allowed access does not prevent any potential legal action.”

• This article was amended on 28 March 2019 to correct the title of James Brokenshire. He is the housing secretary, not the housing minister as an earlier version said.

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