Wandsworth Council approved plans to reduce the number of affordable homes at Battersea Power Station because the cost of the development was creating “significant challenges” for the scheme, the council has said.
Councillor Richard Field said the planning committee approved a deed of variation last night that could cut the number of affordable homes at the development by 40% because not doing so would have risked losing all of them.
Field said: “The escalating cost of restoring the power station building means this development project is facing significant challenges and the committee had a very difficult choice between accepting a potentially lower number of affordable homes, or refusing the application and risk losing all of them.”
The statement came in response to London mayor Sadiq Khan, who today said he was “furious” at the decision, which would delay the construction of 250 affordable units until the end of the scheme when the Battersea Power Station Development Company would conduct a viability review.
Under previous arrangements, there were plans for 636 affordable homes in the 4,239-home scheme. Now only 386 are guaranteed.
Field’s statement added that he believed the council made the right decision because the development directly funds the Northern Line extension, which, he said, would “safeguard” the delivery of thousands of other affordable homes across the Nine Elms regeneration area.
He also criticised Khan, saying: “The mayor of London was asked to engage in this decision-making process several weeks ago but remained completely silent until the day before the committee met when we learned he had commented on this matter via social media rather than contact the council.”
A spokesman for Battersea Power Station Development Company said: “The financial viability of Battersea Power Station was secured back in 2012 when the site was acquired by a strong consortium of Malaysian investors, supported by the Malaysian government. That position has been further strengthened by the achievement of several key milestones, including the sale of about 1,700 homes (865 of which are presently being handed over to residents), and by Apple’s decision last year to make Battersea their London campus.
“This is a 15-year project, and we are presently four years in. Over the last two years, we have seen some huge challenges to the UK construction industry in the shape of Brexit, a falling pound, and construction inflation at 11% YOY, and we are addressing those challenges head-on.
“This project remains on track to deliver a new town centre for Battersea with the power station at the heart of it, connected to the rest of London by the new Northern Line Extension, funded in part by our shareholders who continue to target an attractive financial return from the development.”
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