Council calls on developer to commit to 50% affordable homes on 4,500-home scheme

However, the council wants ECDC to meet its affordable homes target of 50%, which would equate to around 675 extra affordable homes in the scheme. 

It said all successful developments in the borough will meet that 50% minimum. 

According to ECDC, the masterplan will “evolve over the course of 2023”, with a planning application due to be submitted by the end of the year. 

The first phase of development, comprising 1,300 homes, is expected to start in 2025.

A Hammersmith and Fulham Council spokesperson said: “There is much we like about ECDC’s approach and many of their ideas. 

“We continue to work with them to deliver a scheme that works for London.”

But they added that “too many” of ECDC’s proposed buildings were “too high, so we are working with them to address that”. 

“All successful developments in Hammersmith and Fulham will have a minimum of 50% genuinely affordable homes and we look forward to helping them deliver that,” the spokesperson said. 

The scheme will involve both Hammersmith and Fulham borough and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. 

Rebekah Paczek, director of public affairs and community relations at ECDC, said the developer acknowledged the “policy requirements of both boroughs and will be delivering the maximum amount of affordable housing possible on this challenging site”.

“We will continue to work closely with both local authorities and the [Greater London Authority] to ensure this fantastic opportunity delivers for all of London,” she said. 

The mayor of London’s strategic target is for 50% of all new homes delivered across the capital to be genuinely affordable.

However, the Greater London Authority allows individual sites to be fast-tracked if they provide a minimum of 35% affordable housing and the overall average across all TfL sites equals at least 50%.

A spokesperson for the mayor of London said: “The mayor is working with Transport for London and the Earls Court Development Company to deliver thousands of new genuinely affordable homes in this part of west London.

“TfL has an ambition to deliver 50% affordable housing on average across all of its sites in London – and the mayor is determined to ensure that as many affordable homes as possible are delivered as part of this incredibly challenging scheme.

“This proposal includes more than three times the paltry 11% additional affordable housing in the original plans under the previous mayor, where there were no new homes for social rent.”