Plans for the Leyton Score Centre redevelopment are “clearly not policy compliant” as only 120 homes will be available for social rent.
Waltham Forest Council’s largest redevelopment scheme, which includes an 18-storey tower, will provide 750 new homes, half of which will be affordable.
The vast bulk of these affordable homes will be shared ownership, meaning tenants will buy a share of the property and pay rent on the remainder.
At a pre-application meeting on March 3, Cllr Marie Pye (Lab, Leytonstone) expressed concern that the ratio of tenures was "clearly not policy compliant", adding: “Our policy is to put housing at the top of the pecking order.”
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She asked what of the planned non-residential improvements, which include GP rooms and a nursery with 138 spaces, would have to be lost for the scheme to offer more social rent homes.
The council’s Strategic Director Economic Growth & Housing Delivery Stewart Murray said: “Each 10 per cent switch (from shared ownership to rent) has £5.5 million hit. So if we switched completely the viability would be in the negative territory.
“To maximise social rent we would have to forego some of that social infrastructure, some of those non-profit-making community elements.”
However, he added that the council is “really pushing (development partner Taylor Wimpey) and their preferred housing association” to provide a “genuinely tenable housing offer”.
What is on offer
The designs by architects Pollard Thomas Edwards include a civic square with shops and cafes, commercial space for start-ups, a health centre and pharmacy, a pre-school nursery and a new sports and leisure complex.
The plans also include improvements to the area’s transport and cycle networks, solar panelling, a heating energy centre that will provide for homes in neighbouring developments and around 170 new trees.
The development will also provide 250 new jobs, including 45 apprenticeships. It is intended to be a “car-free development” with exceptions for wheelchair users.
Stewart Murray said: “This project delivers probably the most significant package of benefits and housing as we can in one swoop.”
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On January 20, the Deputy Mayor for Planning at City Hall decided a planning application for the project submitted in November last year did “not fully comply with the London Plan and the draft London Plan”.
Concerns were raised that the development “will result in an overall loss of protected open space and outdoor sports pitches from the borough”.
However, the applications plans for affordable housing were supported “subject to confirmation that the tenure split is acceptable to the Council” and it is achieved “without public subsidy”.
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