A Lewisham councillor has defended recently approved plans to replace the borough’s shopping centre with 1,700 new homes.
The council’s decision to approve the plans on 16 October was criticised by local campaign group Save Lewisham Shopping Centre and the Green Party for a lack of affordable housing.
Of the 1,700 homes planned, 344 are set to be affordable and just 98 for social rent – this in a borough with more than 10,000 households currently on the social housing waiting list.
But Cabinet Member for Inclusive Regeneration and Planning James Walsh said it would be wrong to frame the council as not wanting to deliver affordable homes.
He told the Londoners: “I would love to have more discounted homes and I am disappointed when any large scheme doesn’t provide 100% affordable, but I am also pragmatic.”
Lewisham’s affordable housing target, as set out in their Housing Action Plan of 2024, is 50% in all large building schemes.
Walsh said the council pushed Landsec – the company who own the shopping centre – for as much discounted housing as possible but an independent viability review concluded it could only provide 16-20%.
He said: “The alternative is that we reject the plans and there is no planning permission and we don’t deliver 20% affordable housing.
“I am with the campaign to say let’s get as much wherever we can but I think it’s important to remember that almost 350 families have got hope from what this has delivered.”
He added the unique thing about the project – which will be funded entirely by Landsec and not displace any residents – is it will provide homes where otherwise there would not be any.
Walsh said: “It’s much better to have 20% of something than 100% of nothing.”
But Green Party Councillor Hau-Yu Tam – who was barred from voting on the planning application after she left for a bathroom break – criticised the decision and said she would have voted to reject it.
She added that while 50% affordable was a fair target, it was meaningless if the council were unable to actually push for it.
But Walsh said: “16-20% is the minimum, not the maximum number.”
Lewisham Council has implemented four viability reviews into the plans, meaning if Landsec’s profit margins increase they are legally obliged to provide more discounted housing.
However Faris, a leading member of the campaign group, believes this is unlikely to happen.
According to the financial viability review of the proposal, Landsec’s plans ‘do not currently generate target returns’ and are expected to make a significant loss.
Landsec said the project was a long-term investment.
Yet Faris said: “Even if the number of affordable homes does go up, they are not going to go up by any significant margin and I definitely doubt we would reach the 50% threshold of Lewisham’s local plan.”
In other housing schemes, Lewisham Council have been able to secure more affordable housing.
Building in Thomas Lane Yards and Lady Well Park will provide 100% discounted housing – a total of 215 units.
But this is on land the council owns and sites they managed to receive affordable housing grants for.
Unless Landsec receive a similar grant, it is unlikely they will be able to generate enough profit to build more than 16-20% discounted housing.
Walsh admitted: “The economic climate is very tough for the delivery of any building at the moment.”
But he maintained the project, which will also provide a new shopping centre, a music venue and inject £160million into the local economy, is positive for the community.
The local campaign group said they would continue to fight the plans and call for more affordable housing.
Featured image credit: Mx. Granger, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
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