Two major developments have been approved in north London, which will see the construction of a new 318-room ‘aparthotel’ and seven tower blocks comprising student accommodation in Wembley.
Both applications were heard by Brent Council’s Planning Committee at a meeting last week and subsequently given the green light by councillors.
Both proposals received objections from either local residents or other site owners, however, they were ultimately approved despite neither getting a unanimous verdict from the committee.
The most contentious application was for a huge new £41m complex of short stay apartments in Wembley Hill. First proposed this time last year, the scheme will see the demolition of the existing hotel and a church to make way for the 318-room development.
Developers London Wembley Ltd submitted plans to redevelop the site at the corner of Elm Road and St Johns Road, less than 20m from Wembley Central Station, last November. Now it has been approved, the site will be redeveloped to provide the ten-storey ‘aparthotel’, alongside a ‘flexible community floorspace’.
The ‘aparthotel’ – a set of apartments where guests can stay for a short time and which has hotel amenities – will replace the Euro Hotel on Elm Road and the Spiritualist Church on St Johns Road following demolition. There are also plans for a ground-floor café, with the guest rooms spread across the part six, part eight, and part ten-storey building.
The redevelopment will form part of the Wembley Masterplan, which proposes for Wembley to become a key contributor to the London economy and the heart of Brent – which includes delivering 10,000 new homes by 2030.
According to developers, the project will ‘provide high quality apartment hotel provision’ whilst ‘maximising the efficiency of the site’. They claim the £41m car-free redevelopment will generate ‘more local job opportunities, increased footfall and increased spend for existing businesses’.
Documents submitted by the developer described the current two-star hotel as ‘outdated and tired’, as well as lacking a ‘sense of arrival or place’. They claim the new scheme will create a ‘development respectful to the area’ and ‘redefine the nature and appearance of the site’.
However, the vote on the application resulted in a tie, with three councillors voting for and three against the plan. One councillor, Cllr Liz Dixon, abstained. The main issues cited by those who opposed the application were that the building would be ‘out of character’ for the area and concerns were raised about the approval of a ten-storey building outside of the tall building zone.
Cllr Saqib Butt suggested it would amount to an ‘encroachment and extension of the town centre’. He said: “[The development is] not giving our residents any kind of benefit whatsoever – apart from blocking the light outside of the tall building zone in a completely residential area.”
There was some confusion when Cllr Dixon was asked to give her reasons for abstaining, where she implied she should actually vote against the plan. She said: “I think it is against because I’m not confident that we are following some of our policies around the tall zone and I think it is out of character.”
However, Cllr Kelcher advised that the vote had happened and Cllr Dixon had abstained and that would stand. He said: “Everyone had the chance to vote how they wanted to and that’s what she chose to do.”
The second application on the meeting agenda was for a plan to build hundreds of new student rooms in Wembley following the demolition of the existing waste management site.
The scheme, which was also approved by the committee, is designed to address the ‘significant shortfall of spaces’ in the borough by delivering 759 rooms spread across seven tower blocks up to 15 storeys.
The site is currently occupied by a skip company, but, following approval, the applicant Wembley Edge Property Ltd now has permission to demolish all of the existing buildings to develop two ‘land parcels’ located to the north and south of Fifth Way. The total 759 rooms will be split between studio flats and ‘cluster’ rooms – a type of shared living arrangement where the students would have their own private room but share a kitchen and bathroom.
There was opposition to the plan from owners of neighbouring sites, who were concerned that the application would limit their own development options by ‘devaluing the land’. However, the application passed with but only one committee member, Cllr Liz Dixon, voting against on the grounds of reduced sunlight.
She pointed to the sunlight impact assessment which found that there would be an ‘adverse impact’ on some of the surrounding buildings. Cllr Dixon said: “It seems we can cut corners when it comes to student accommodation. It seems, with students, we can forego the targets.”
In 2023, Brent had nearly 20,000 full-time student residents, with just under 15,000 requiring purpose built accommodation – an increase of 125 per cent over the last decade – according to a Student Housing Need Assessment carried out by the developer. However, there are just 4,636 existing student spaces spread across 12 developments in Wembley, which they claim leaves a substantial shortfall.
Students currently living in these existing developments study at Central London universities – with nearly two thirds studying at University of Westminster, Middlesex University and Buckingham New University – as well as more local ones. Wembley is seen as being an ‘increasingly desirable location’ for students due to its good transport connections, as well as the growing number of shops and night-time activities in the area.
The approval means the building of seven new buildings, ranging from five to 15 storeys, comprising 597 studio units and 192 cluster rooms can now move ahead. According to the developer, at least 50 per cent of these rooms will be offered as affordable student accommodation – outlined as housing that costs 55 per cent or less of the maximum income a full-time student could receive from the government’s annual maintenance loan for living costs.
The project will also deliver a café, communal student leisure rooms, ground floor industrial space, and parking spaces for 609 bikes. Developers claim the accommodation will ‘regenerate an underutilised brownfield site’, as well as ‘positively contribute’ to the borough’s housing targets and city-wide demand for student spaces.
