Student developer Scape has proposed a co-living scheme in Hackney, despite the borough’s previous resistance to the controversial use class.
It has submitted a planning application for 121 co-living flats at a development called Pause on Kingsland Road.
The plans were submitted by the special purpose vehicle Kingsland Road Developments, which lists founders at Scape, its residential arm Bode Properties and investment firm Gravis as directors.
It comes after the council rejected Rainbow Properties’ co-living application earlier this year. The council’s aversion to co-living has caused other developers in Hackney to walk away from the use class in favour of other residential uses.
Hackney Council prioritises standard residential developer over alternative housing types. This means developers must demonstrate that standard residential units cannot be delivered in order to secure approval for co-living schemes.
The borough has yet to approve a single co-living scheme.
Plans designed by pH+ architects propose a development of up to seven storeys at the Travis Perkins site fronting Kingsland Basin. Each floor contains around 26 co-living rooms, in clusters of three to eight units with two shared kitchens. The rooms are either 19 sq m or 24 sq m.
The scheme includes flexible groundfloor workspace, a gym, cinema room and a roof deck.
The co-living sector is expected to triple to more than 20,000 beds in the next two years according to JLL, with new schemes from residential, student and hospitality developers.
But new entrants to the sector face major barriers in the planning system, with co-living approvals dependent on planning committee preferences and politics.
Scape is backed by GCP Student Living, the UK’s first student accommodation REIT, launched by Gravis in 2013. The student developer was founded in 2008 and launched its first scheme at Mile End canalside. It has more than 18,000 beds in development and in operation, in the UK, Australia and the US.
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