Bermondsey’s landmark housing development on the Biscuit Factory will have more social housing built after Southwark Council approved changes to a previous decision.
The council’s alterations to the original planning permission, negotiated by the Greater London Assembly, means the Greystar development now meets Southwark Council’s affordable housing expectations.
Councillors voted in favour of the planning permission by five votes to one on Wednesday, March 6.
The site’s redevelopment was first proposed in 2017 when its former developer Grosvenor submitted its plans.
Southwark Council refused the planning permission in 2019, in part because of a lack of affordable housing.
The Greater London Assembly (GLA) however ‘called in’ the application, meaning the decision was taken out of the council’s hands.
The GLA negotiated increases to its affordable housing so it reached 35 per cent and gave planning permission in 2020.
But that was split between 25 per cent intermediate rent and just 10 per cent affordable, the inverse of Southwark Council’s planning guidelines.
Greystar acquired the £973 million from Grosvenor in September 2022.
Southwark Council’s decision on Wednesday, ‘reverses’ the GLA’s agreement, with the split now being 25 per cent social rent and 10 per cent intermediate.
Intermediate homes are typically 80 per cent of market rates while social rent is around 60 per cent of market rates.
The decision brings the total number of homes on the site to 1,624 up from 1,536.
The development includes the construction of a new school building a children’s playspace, car and cycle parking and the creation of two new pedestrian routes through the railway arches.
The new school building for Charter School Bermondsey was completed in January 2024, which has enabled on-site works to begin.
The revised development also includes the addition of second staircases in buildings to meet fire regulations and a 115 per cent increase in play areas and 75 additional trees.
Cllr Helen Dennis, Cabinet Member for New Homes & Sustainable Development, said: “In Southwark, we are happy to support development which meets our planning policies, doing all we can to facilitate the delivery of new homes. We are issuing planning consents to help meet the housing need in our borough with over 4,300 homes in the last two years alone with more than half being affordable.
“The Biscuit Factory site is the largest housing scheme in the borough which will deliver over 1,600 homes. Prior to planning, we helped negotiate a better offer where the number of social rent homes went from 10% to 25% meaning over 330 new homes will be delivered at social rent – the equivalent of a large council estate.
“These much-needed new homes will be well-designed and meet environmental standards, helping the borough to meet our climate emergency targets. New public space, trees and play spaces will be a green link through the railway viaduct to The Blue and communities to the south, which will be exciting to see take shape.”
Another non-descript over crowded private development done on “the cheap”. I’m glad you showed the aerial view with the existing council flat blocks along Drummond Road. The difference in quality and standards is clear, to take just one example, within each of the old blocks a dedicated green space play area for residents and inbetween with two blocks either side a separate sunken ball games pitch. Such were the enlightened nature of those times when councils were even more cash strapped than now. By contrast, the current plans I would describe as straightforward exploitation with little concern for quality of life and more to do with numbers and profit.