Plans for 178 new homes and a separate 23-storey student accommodation block in Archway could be allowed to go ahead by Sir Sadiq Khan, despite Islington Council refusing to grant permission for the project.
In a letter to the borough authority, the mayor has said he will use his power to ‘call in’ the application and decide whether to overrule the council.
He said the scheme - located on the former Archway Hospital site at the intersection of Highgate Hill and Archway Road - “would be of a scale which would provide a significant contribution to” his annual housing targets.
Sir Sadiq’s decision to call in the Archway scheme is the latest in a string of recent interventions in London’s planning system, all of which have come about after councils refused to approve high-rise student accommodation. Similar projects in Canary Wharf and Paddington have both been called in by City Hall over recent months. A student accommodation scheme in Southwark meanwhile secured support from the borough in March, and another in Vauxhall will soon be considered by Lambeth Council.
On the Archway scheme, Islington Council’s officers had argued that the project failed to provide enough affordable housing and could damage the “character and appearance of the Holborn Union Infirmary Conservation Area”.
Of the 178 homes, 58 would be available at a social rent, and a further 33 would be made available as part of the mayor’s London Living Rent scheme, which is pegged to local incomes. All 91 of these affordable properties would be housed in new buildings along Highgate Hill. The project’s remaining 87 homes would be created within the site’s existing historic buildings, and would be sold off at market rates.
The 23-storey tower, which would sit separately from the rest of the housing, would meanwhile provide a further 242 student bedrooms - none of which would be classed as ‘affordable’.
It means that overall, only 30 per cent of the scheme - measured by the number of habitable rooms - would comprise ‘affordable housing’, which is below Sir Sadiq’s usual requirement of 35 per cent.
Local MP Jeremy Corbyn last year said he was strongly opposed to the project. “This new tower that is proposed is going to be a complete eyesore on the area,” he said. “It is not an iconic structure. It is something that is put up purely to make a great deal of money.”
Addressing the concerns about affordability, the former Labour leader also warned: “In no way in a borough with over 15,000 families in housing need, and where of existing tenancies around 40 per cent live in social housing, can this be called an appropriate development.”
The project’s developer, Seven Capital told the Ham and High newspaper last year that their scheme will provide “high quality, modern residential accommodation and student rooms alongside the restoration of historic buildings”.
A spokesperson added: “The submitted scheme will make a lasting, positive contribution to the community and wider area through public realm enhancements and the provision of flexible community and commercial space.”
Some 52 of the 91 affordable housing units are proposed to be studio or one-bedroom flats. The council’s officers said this conflicted with Islington’s Local Plan, which states that “concentrations of one-bedroom units” in new developments “will not be acceptable”.
Regarding the student tower’s height, the authority also concluded it “would result in unacceptable visual, functional and environmental impacts”.
In his letter to the borough however, Sir Sadiq said the project could “make a significant contribution to Islington’s housing delivery”. He will hold a City Hall hearing at some stage in the coming months, where the arguments for and against the scheme will be re-examined, before issuing a final decision on whether permission should be granted.
