Permission for more than 1,500 homes to be built in east London has been granted by City Hall, in a decision overturning the local council’s rejection of the plans last year.
At a packed-out public hearing on Friday, Jules Pipe - London’s deputy mayor for planning - said the scheme would make a valuable contribution to the capital’s housing targets.
The project will involve the demolition of 330 existing homes on the Aberfeldy Estate in Poplar, and their replacement with up to 1,565 new ones.
The planning application originally proposed up to 1,582 new homes, but this was reduced slightly after Housing Secretary Michael Gove announced last year that he intends to ban all new buildings taller than 18 metres which do not have second staircases. The rule is being brought forward as a fire safety measure.
"London is facing a housing crisis and we urgently need more housing, particularly genuinely affordable homes," Mr Pipe told the hearing.
He added: "More than ever, with the cost of living crisis and the need for good quality, affordable homes in London greater than ever before, we must ensure that we take all opportunities available to us to build more affordable housing, particularly low-cost social housing."
Councillors on Tower Hamlets’ strategic development committee voted unanimously to reject the application in February 2023, despite their own planning officers recommending that they approve it.
They justified their refusal on the grounds that it would worsen local traffic, not provide enough affordable housing, reduce sunlight for nearby buildings, and would place a tall development outside of an officially-designated ‘tall building zone’.
Most of the homes are planned to have one or two bedrooms. The tallest building on the development would be 28 storeys high, along with two at 24 storeys, and eight further buildings between six and 12 storeys.
As of June 2023, more than 23,000 households were reportedly on the waiting list for housing in Tower Hamlets.
The council argued that not enough of the new homes would be affordable, despite City Hall’s officers finding that the maximum amount possible had been provided. Any more, they concluded, would make the scheme “unviable”.
Mr Pipe said: “The inference [from Tower Hamlets Council] is that the applicant is capable of offering a greater amount of affordable housing - I’m sure we’re all agreed we’d like to see more affordable housing - that’s not the issue.
“The issue is, where is the evidence that the applicant could, and that the independent consultants were wrong, and that the GLA [Greater London Authority] review of affordable housing levels is wrong?”
Councillor Amin Rahman, chair of Tower Hamlets’ strategic development committee, was unable to answer this question.
Much of the hearing was dominated by a debate over the planned repurposing of a vehicular underpass beneath the A12, which will be converted for walking and cycling only. Opponents of the scheme claimed that the data used to calculate the impact on traffic times was dated and inaccurate.
Mr Rahman said that even if the pedestrianised underpass created a delay of less than a minute for motor vehicles, it would still not be acceptable.
Supporters of the scheme argued that the existing pedestrian underpasses were “not safe” and that they encouraged criminal behaviour on the estate.
Mr Pipe said he was satisfied that the modelling used was “robust”. The hearing was told that the repurposing of the underpass will enable a new northbound lane to be created along a portion of the A12, helping to manage traffic flows.
The deputy mayor concluded that the “impact on some journey times would be limited and should be weighed against the wider benefits of the scheme”.
The application was submitted by Aberfeldy New Village LLP - a joint venture between housing association Poplar HARCA and Malaysian developer EcoWorld.
City Hall's planning officers said the “demolition and construction phases of the development (across a period of 10 years and 8 months) would generate approximately 651 full time equivalent jobs, including apprenticeship roles”.
The scheme is part of a wider regeneration of the Aberfeldy Estate which has been ongoing since 2012.
