Plans a huge new development in Beckton have been approved despite being criticised for containing an “unbelievably low” number of affordable homes.
The first phase of Beckton Riverside will see 2,977 homes built between Armada Way and Atlantis Avenue, but only 185 of them (6.2 per cent) are allocated for social rent, with no other affordable housing provided.
Speaking at a strategic development committee meeting in October, during which councillors voted to approve the scheme, Labour chair Rachel Tripp slammed the “almost unbelievably low percentage of affordable homes we’re looking at on this site”.
Cllr Tripp said: “If we’re not looking at family-sized homes at social rent then really, however many homes we’re looking at providing, they aren’t for the people of Newham.
“They’re not for the families who are in temporary accommodation. They’re not for people who come to see us asking us to come and see their homes where they are so overcrowded – where their children are so miserable that the quality of their housing is having a real impact on their mental health, and on their schooling and on their educational outcomes.”
The council’s planning policy states that between 35-50 per cent of homes on new developments should be designated as affordable housing, and that if a developer submits plans with less than 50 per cent affordable housing, it must also provide a financial viablity assessment to explain why.
St William Homes LLP – a subsidiary of developer Berkeley Homes – claims it can’t provide a higher proportion of affordable housing on the site.
A representative told the committee that there were “complex challenges” on the site, which was previously a gasworks.
He said: “What we wanted to do with the affordable housing offer is to be honest and transparent about it.
“We know it’s a low level, we know that that was not going to be what you wanted as an authority.”
He added that Homes England and the Greater London Authority had said the scheme could potentially be given a public subsidy to fund more affordable housing and that getting planning permission would put St William in a stronger position to apply for the funding.
He said: “That can’t be guaranteed, I appreciate that, but I think certainly from our conversations with them, and given the scale of this project and the strategic importance it has within a wider role in Beckton Riverside, we think that they will be able to commit to funding at a later date.”
He added: “We wish that we could do more. What we can give you is a commitment to try and deliver more later.”
Council planning officers recommended that councillors vote to approve the plans. They said they had commissioned an independent review of St William Homes’ viability assessment, which found the offer to be reasonable.
Officers said developers faced “considerable abnormal costs” in preparing the site for construction, and that this was a “reasonable justification” for providing fewer affordable homes.
They also said that that developers would have to rerun the financial viability assessment during early, mid and late stages of the development.
These reviews would take into account any grant funding, and “ensure that the level of affordable housing realised by the development is maximised”.
Councillors on the committee voted unanimously to approve the plans and refer them to the Greater London Authority, which will have the final say because of the scheme’s significant scale.
