London mayor Sadiq Khan has refused an increase in the number of flats at London’s former police HQ due to the “appallingly low” levels of affordable housing.
Owners Abu Dhabi Financial Group and developers Northacre were attempting to reduce flat sizes and increase numbers at New Scotland Yard, SW1, which they bought in 2014. They paid £370m for the 1.7-acre site through investment vehicle BL Developments, £120m above the guide price.
After gaining planning in 2016 for 268 flats, they submitted an alteration in May to increase to increase this to 295. It was given draft variation application consent by Westminster’s planning committee, but has been since called in by Khan, who refused the application due to the low levels of affordable housing.
The previous planning was granted days before the mayoral elections in April 2016, after which Khan swiftly implemented a policy of 35% affordable housing. New Scotland Yard has 4%.
Despite the refusal, the development of the site can still go ahead, because the existing planning permission still stands. What may happen is the refusal opens a negotiation to alter the planning, or the developers appeal to the secretary of state.
Khan said: “It beggars belief that the initial application was approved under the previous mayor with a paltry 4% affordable housing, just days before the mayoral election.
“This is a site which has only recently been transferred from public ownership and sits within one of the most expensive areas of the country. Having carefully considered the evidence available to me, I have decided to refuse permission for this amended application.”
BL Development submitted a Section 73 to increase the unit numbers in the scheme by 27, without increasing affordable housing. The extra space for more homes would be created through the omission of one basement level and the reduction of roughly 10% of the car parking provision.
The original plans include a contribution of just £10m through a S106 contribution, and 10 affordable homes. The increase in flat numbers would have meant this amounted to roughly 3% affordable housing on the scheme.
Khan has struggled to increase affordable housing on schemes that already have planning permission, but which City Hall believes should be making a far higher contribution.
In June, he was unable to stop Wandsworth Council lowering the percentage of affordable housing at Battersea Power Station by 40%, from 636 homes to a potential 386, just 9% of the 4,239-home scheme. The mayor had no formal power to intervene but “strongly criticised” the council and objected to the decision in the “strongest terms”.
Khan said: “This comes just a few weeks after the outrageous decision to cut the level of affordable housing at Battersea Power Station and I am more determined than ever to do all I can to ensure Londoners are not short-changed when it comes to developers doing their bit to help tackle London’s housing crisis.
“The government now needs to show it is committed to this too and devolve the powers to help me stop developers getting away with unacceptably low levels of affordable housing.”
Since coming into power Khan has enacted a number of changes to affordable housing regulations.
He has created a team of viability experts to scrutinise the level of affordable housing in all planning applications referred to him. In the Supplementary Planning Guidance on viability and affordable housing, he said that developers offering at least 35% affordable housing without public subsidy could expect a quicker, more certain route through the planning system.
Earlier this week he wrote to the secretary of state for communities and local government, Sajid Javid, urging the government to allow increased council tax charges on empty properties in central London.
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