In the summer of 1896 work was completed on a groundbreaking public laundry in London’s east end, part of what is thought to be the first-ever social housing estate.
The communal facilities to wash clothes on the estate evolved over the decades but have now been abruptly halted by the local council who have closed down the community launderette.
Shocked council tenants and other local residents in the area between Shoreditch and Bethnal Green, home to the Boundary Estate, are calling for the Boundary Estate Community Launderette to be reopened immediately so people can once again access an affordable service performed by cheerful staff.
Residents say they have been communicating with the council but officials are keen to get the premises back so they can increase the rent sixfold, a level more suited to some of the designer shops springing up in fashionable Shoreditch.
The launderette, situated in an elegant and functional set of red-bricked housing blocks alongside schools and a laundry around a central park, are fighting the closure. They say it doubles up as a space for the community to get together, somewhere that lonely or elderly people who are isolated can get a cup of tea while their clothes spin and buy cut-price donated books from the launderette’s informal library – with all proceeds donated to charities. According to locals, it has even been the setting for love, with romance blooming over the tumble driers for one couple.
Tracey Yeuman, who was working at the launderette until Tower Hamlets council changed the locks earlier this month, is mourning its closure along with hundreds of other local people. “There is a very strong sense of community in this place. I call it a launderette family,” she said.
The story of the Boundary Estate and its evolving and now axed communal laundry facilities is a story of London from Victorian slum clearance to today’s galloping gentrification.
The estate was completed in the late 1890s as a replacement for London’s most notorious slum, Old Nichol. It was formally opened by Edward, Prince of Wales in 1900. The communal laundry, described in local archives as an “experiment”, was an attractive part of the new development, with homes allocated to the capital’s “working poor” rather than to all the slum dwellers who previously lived in the area.
The laundry had a waiting room, 42 washing stalls, hot and cold water and a boiling compartment, along with 42 drying horses which used hot air to dry clothes.
The original laundry building was sold off some time in the 1960s but when tenants had no choice but to dry clothes in their flats it created damp and mould. And so in 1992 the Boundary Estate Community Launderette was founded by a group of parents struggling to get their family’s washing done.
The launderette is much loved by all the local people who use it.
Artist Ken Sequin, 82, laments its sudden closure. “This laundry is a community activity,” he said. “And the staff even fold my sheets for me.”
There is disagreement between Tower Hamlets council and the residents about the circumstances which led to the closure.
A Tower Hamlets council spokesperson said: “We contacted the tenants of the launderette back in July 2023 to formally start the lease renewal process and asked them to begin negotiations with us. This process is set out in law and as part of that we have to include proposed new lease terms, which include a rental rate as a basis for discussion.
“As with all our lease renewals, we are seeking to balance our obligation to get the best value for Tower Hamlets’ residents with a desire to make rents sustainable for businesses. All the rental proposals are based on market evidence, generally from the immediate vicinity.
“We have not had any contact from the tenants since issuing the notice and strongly encourage them to contact us so we can begin a discussion.”
Vice chair of the Boundary Tenants and Residents Association, Jonathan Moberly, said: “This is the only community space on the estate. But because it’s on the edge of Shoreditch council officials have been briefed to get a commercial rent for the launderette. There has been an outpouring of grief from the community about this since the shutters came down.”
