Darren Rodwell, the leader of Barking and Dagenham council in east London, has ambitious plans to regenerate the borough he was born in nearly half a century ago and in which he has lived all his life. A solid traditional local Labour politician – or community champion, as he prefers to be called – Rodwell wants to give his borough a new lease of life through injecting business opportunities and community facilities across his patch. Crucially he wants to build 50,000 homes over the next 20 years and is willing to work with anyone who shares his vision of improving the lot of his fellow residents.

The council leader took Housing Today for a guided tour around the borough a week before the fire which ravaged a number of apartments there to see the improvements that have started and where he sees the next steps being taken which he believes will help restore vibrancy and a sense of self-belief to one of the capital’s less well-off local authorities.

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