Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has called in his fourth housing scheme after it was recently refused by Wandsworth council’s planning committee, against planning officers’ recommendations.
The applicant, National Grid UK Pension Scheme, proposed 348 homes, up to 15 storeys, next to Wandsworth Town station, SW18, on a former Homebase site.
Eighty-four units will be affordable, all in the form of shared ownership, 24% of the total.
Although the scheme falls below Khan’s 35% target, his GLA report states the “348 new homes would equate to 19% of the council’s annual housing target.
Noting that Wandsworth council’s recent delivery of affordable housing is under the minimum target, the proposed development has the potential to make a positive contribution to strategic affordable housing targets in the borough by optimising the use of a highly accessible and under-utilised site.”
The scheme was originally refused due to issues with the height, scale and massing. No reference was made to affordable housing.
Khan said: “The overall design and massing is supported and while it was accepted that the station building is of a larger scale than its immediate context, it does not cause significant harm to the local and wider townscape.”
Khan added that although Wandsworth was performing well in securing planning approvals for additional housing – 161% over target between 2013 and 2016 – “it is notable that the total percentage of affordable homes secured in this period is just 17.5%.”
A previous application for 17 storeys and 321 homes was refused a year earlier.
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