Affordable Housing
Planning application 14/13247 ( Sept 2015 )
15% falls well short of the 50% requirement
We strongly believe that there is insufficient affordable housing in this plan. RBK states its commitment to affordable housing as a key priority in its SPD, which states that the council will "maximise its provision."
At 15% the council is falling well short of the 50% it claims to aim for on developments of this size. The council and St George claim that the reasons for this lie in the viability and that their hands are tied. We say affordable housing and the implications of restoring the listed buildings have or should have been factored into the price agreed for the land. We therefore see no excuse and would ask for more transparency on this. Greenwich council recently decided to publish viability figures for every development that does not meet the councils stated affordable housing target.
This is an extremely strong concern for residents and the developers have failed to take this on board.
In contrast...
St George’s ‘Fortress Wapping’ London Dock towers were lowered and Affordable Housing doubled.
An 18 month negotiation with Tower Hamlets resulted in an Affordable Housing increase from 15 to 30% and the lowering the main tower from 33 to 25 storeys. 18 months is considered a fairly rapid turnaround compared with many developments.
> Click here for more info...
Q: Has our council managed to double the initial 17% Affordable Housing for this site?
A: NO - it is now just 15%.
In what way then is our council committed to maximizing the provision of Affordable Housing if they accept this 15% proposal?
An 18 month negotiation with Tower Hamlets resulted in an Affordable Housing increase from 15 to 30% and the lowering the main tower from 33 to 25 storeys. 18 months is considered a fairly rapid turnaround compared with many developments.
> Click here for more info...
Q: Has our council managed to double the initial 17% Affordable Housing for this site?
A: NO - it is now just 15%.
In what way then is our council committed to maximizing the provision of Affordable Housing if they accept this 15% proposal?
Page updated on 1 Oct 2015