Mayor of London overrules local councils

With demand for property in the capital becoming increasingly competitive, the need for new housing is at an all-time high.  Despite this demand, local authorities have had to restrict some developments, as residents continue voice concerns over any new project to cross the planning departments table.

In a move that could prove divisive, Mayor Sadiq Khan has given the go-ahead to two developments of affordable homes in the city after planning permission was initially refused by councils.

Hale Wharf, a 21-storey building located close to Tottenham Hale will deliver 505 homes of which 177 will be affordable.  Palmerston Road in Wealdstone will deliver 186 homes, 74 of which will be affordable.  The brief for both projects was to deliver a significant number of new homes for the smallest footprint possible. 

Each scheme was rejected by their respective councils until my Khan stepped in.  Mr Khan stated: “Having carefully considered all the evidence available to me, I am confident both these high-density developments will deliver hundreds of the much needed genuinely affordable homes Londoners need in areas of the capital ripe for further development,”

‘We’ve worked with the applicant on the Hale Wharf scheme in Haringey to increase the level of affordable housing and ensured the project will not encroach on our precious green belt, as was the case in the earlier designs,’ he continued.

‘The development at Palmerston Road in Harrow also offers a high level of affordable housing, which is particularly important as we move towards my long term strategic target of 50% affordable,’ Khan Said.

‘Building the homes Londoners urgently need will mean town centres and suburbs becoming denser, so we expect developers to continue to come up with high quality designs which don’t have a negative impact on their surroundings,’ he finished.

The planning process is usually a long-winded task, but Khan hopes this pragmatic approach to London’s chronic undersupply should spur more councils into speeding up the application process.