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Council gives Genesis green light for major north London estate regeneration
A housing association’s major regeneration of an estate in north London has taken a step forward, two months after London mayor Sadiq Khan condemned the loss of social housing in the plans.
Genesis was given the green light for the scheme by Barnet Council’s planning committee last week.
The 33,000-home landlord, which is set to merge with Notting Hill Housing, wants to demolish 630 homes at the Grahame Park Estate in Colindale and replace them with 1,083 new builds, in addition to community facilities.
Mr Khan will now consider the application, with a decision expected early next year.
Greater London Authority (GLA) planning officers previously told the local authority that the loss of social rented units implicated in the plans “is wholly unacceptable”.
They said the initial viability assessment for the scheme showed that more social rented homes could be provided, and suggested the project could be undervalued by around £17m.
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Genesis is proposing to build just 39 units for social rent as part of the regeneration – while there are currently 557 on the estate.
Another 153 new homes will be for London Affordable Rent, in addition to 166 for London Living Rent and 294 for shared ownership.
Taking these tenures into account, 62% – or 652 – of the new homes will be affordable, with the rest available for market sale.
The plans mark the second phase of the estate’s regeneration. In the first phase, 52% of the 685 new homes were affordable, including 235 for social rent.
In a joint press release, Genesis and Barnet Council said they had “worked in close partnership to address previous queries raised by the GLA at an earlier stage in the application process”.
According to a report before the planning committee, the issues have been “broadly resolved and officers are satisfied that any minor outstanding matters can be resolved”.
It added that “all parties agree that London Affordable Rent should be counted as social rent for the purposes of calculating reprovision”.
A spokesperson for City Hall said it was unable to comment until Mr Khan had reached a decision on the application.
“Following two years of design and development work, together with consulting local residents, I am pleased to see that the council recognises the substantial benefits that this application will bring to Grahame Park,” said Jeremy Stibbe, executive director of assets and investment at Genesis.
“We look forward to the mayor of London reviewing the many benefits to this area.”
Dan Thomas, chair of the Assets, Regeneration and Growth Committee at Barnet Council, said: “We’ve already seen the massive difference that has been made to the Colindale area as a result of the early regeneration works that have taken place.
“This latest phase will only improve Colindale further, creating a far more pleasant environment for existing residents, as well as making it a highly sought-after location for people to live in.”
Grahame Park, which is the largest estate in Barnet, was one of four to receive loans to kick-start regeneration as part of the 2014 Autumn Statement.
It originally comprised 1,777 homes when the first residents arrived in 1971.
