The developers of Battersea Power Station face growing pressure from Wandsworth council to vastly increase the “unacceptably low level” of affordable housing at London’s flagship regeneration project, the Standard has learned.
Original planning permission for the £9 billion scheme required the Malaysian owners of the former electricity generator to build 636 homes classified as “affordable”— around 15 per cent of the total.
However in 2017, the then Tory-run local authority agreed to a request to cut that to 386 affordable homes, or just nine per cent, largely because of the spiralling cost of restoring the Grade II* listed landmark.
But there has been an increasing backlash within the council against the concession since Labour won control of Wandsworth town hall for the first time in 44 years in May 2022, with a mandate to tackle homelessness.
It has now gone public with its concerns for the first time in what sets up a high-profile clash with the Battersea Power Station Development Company (BPDC).
In a statement to the Standard, Aydin Dikerdem, Wandsworth’s cabinet member for housing, said: “We are determined to maximise affordable housing across all new developments in Wandsworth.
“Battersea Power Station needs to understand that the council expects them to consider all possible means to increase the percentage of affordable housing from an unacceptably low level seen in earlier phases.”
Sadiq Khan usually requires a minimum of 35 per cent affordable homes in new housing developments in London.
So far about half of the masterplan has been delivered with two of the six phases of the development completed, and two partially completed, including the affordable housing blocks — known as New Mansion Square — which were handed over to housing association Peabody in April.
A detailed planning application for phase 3c, which includes nearly 300 new homes but no affordable housing, was submitted to the council in May, with a decision expected in the autumn.
Although the council cannot insist on affordable housing being added to this phase, it could use the planning permission for 3c as a bargaining chip to up the pressure on BPDC to increase affordable provision in later phases.
The developers have always insisted that nine per cent affordable is as much as the 42-acre scheme can viably support.
They point to the vast public benefit it has provided London, including a £200 million contribution to the Northern line extension to Nine Elms and the power station, as well as the £1 billion cost of saving one of the world’s most recognisable buildings, where a penthouse is on the market for £9 million.
Insiders say that the scheme has been “viability tested” three times since 2017 with the council’s independent adviser confirming on each occasion that it is providing the “maximum reasonable amount” of affordable housing.
However, local campaigners insist that the nine per cent currently being delivered is “absolutely ridiculous” given the 13,500 residents on housing waiting lists in the borough.
The council has not set a new target for affordable housing at Battersea but a spokesman said: “We strongly encourage developers working in the borough to increase affordable homes in all new developments to 50 per cent.”
A BPDC spokesman said: “We [have] completed 2,200 homes and created over 6,600 new jobs.”
