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First Old Kent Road site offers 40.5% affordable housing
A planning application for one of the first developments in a major south London ‘opportunity area’ has been submitted by a housing association and developer, offering 40.5% affordable housing.
London housing association A2 Dominion and developer Avanton put the application, which proposes 1,165 homes, to Southwark Council’s planning committee this week.
The scheme, Ruby Triangle, proposes that 40.5% of the homes will be affordable, which is below the mayor’s 50% threshold for ‘Strategic Industrial Locations’.
As a result, the development will not benefit from City Hall’s fast-tracked planning process, but will see its viability scrutinised by the mayor’s office, a policy introduced in Sadiq Khan’s draft London Plan.
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According to the council’s independent assessors’ report, there is some disagreement on the appropriate amount of profit for the developer to make on the site.
The report says that Southwark Council wants the developer to accept 17.5% profit, or £73.8m, while the developer wishes to target a minimum of 20% profit, which would be £92.2m.
The application, on Tuesday’s planning committee meeting, was deferred as time ran out following the other items on the agenda and will be discussed on 29 October.
Danny Lynch, director of land and development at A2 Dominion, said: “As a strategic partner working with the Greater London Authority [GLA], 50% of the homes we provide in partnership with them will be affordable.
“The GLA planning requires a minimum of 35% affordable provision. Our collaboration with Avanton at Ruby Triangle will exceed the minimum GLA affordable requirement – subject to approval by the planning committee.”
Planning issues have come under particular scrutiny in Southwark recently thanks to a range of large schemes coming forward.
A proposal to demolish the Elephant & Castle shopping centre has been criticised by the local Labour Party for failing to deliver enough social housing, with London mayor Sadiq Khan saying he is “keen” to ensure that “as much affordable housing as possible” is delivered on the site.
Meanwhile, developer Grosvenor Estates, which represents the business activities of the Duke of Westminster, is attempting to build 1,343 homes by demolishing the Biscuit Factory in Bermondsey.
None of these homes, under the current planning application, would be for social housing. Instead, Grosvenor is suggesting 27.5% affordable housing, all at an average of 75% market rents.
