Southwark Council planning officers have refused Grosvenor’s £500m build-to-rent scheme in Bermondsey, SE16.
The application for 1,343 residential units was recommended for refusal last week owing to insufficient affordable housing. Planning officers said the scheme did not comply with private rented sector tenure requirements in the 2018 New Southwark Plan.
Grosvenor had proposed making 27.5% of the habitable rooms available at an average 25% discount to market rent. The application followed four years of stakeholder consultation for what would be the first BTR scheme undertaken by the 340-year-old Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster’s property group.
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Grosvenor chief executive Craig McWilliam said: “After many years of working collaboratively with the council and community to develop proposals for a highly accessible and exemplary scheme we are obviously disappointed by the committee’s decision.
“We have talked openly to many in Southwark on the opportunities build-to-rent brings, but also the difficult choices, often between competing benefits, that must be made to deliver these new homes. We have also consistently acknowledged and sought to explain why the economics of our proposals mean they cannot support social housing.
“However, we also believe that the community should benefit from the scheme and share in any future success. In response, we included in our proposals an upwards-only review mechanism, so that the borough would receive a larger affordable housing contribution if the scheme could support higher rents, or cost less than anticipated to build or run.”
Refusal of the strategic site means that Southwark Council must now write to the Mayor of London, detailing its decision. After submission of the report, the GLA will have two weeks to respond.
To send feedback, e-mail emma.rosser@egi.co.uk or tweet @EmmaARosser or @estatesgazette
