Mayor of Hackney publishes independent assessment finding developer could afford three times as much affordable housing as offered
The two councils on whose land the Bishopsgate Goodsyard development is supposed to be built have announced they would refuse it planning permission 鈥� were the decision still theirs to make.
Their reasoning is based in part on an independent assessment of the developer鈥檚 viability report which concludes that the scheme could include three times more 鈥渁ffordable鈥� housing than the proposed 10%.
This disparity is described as 鈥渆xtremely concerning鈥� by BNP Paribas Real Estate (BNPPRE) which authored the . Nevertheless the developers behind the scheme, Ballymore and Hammerson, maintain it is right scheme for the site.
The mayor of Hackney, Jules Pipe, said: 鈥淭his report exposes for the first time the shoddy, downright misleading viability assessment on which the developers base their case.
鈥淎lthough they claim to owe the community no affordable housing and offer a paltry 10% out of 鈥榞oodwill鈥�, the independent study by BNP Paribas found more than 30% on site with a further 拢12 million towards off-site provision would be viable.
鈥淚t identifies 鈥榙istortion鈥� and a 鈥榣ack of transparency鈥� throughout the developer鈥檚 assessment, argues they have ramped up their costs and downplayed profits, and predicts our communities would be short-changed by the current s106 money being offered.
鈥淭hese proposals, based primarily on cashing in on luxury flats way beyond the means of most Hackney residents, are wholly inappropriate for this part of Shoreditch.鈥�
Planning officers at Hackney and Tower Hamlets have written reports recommending refusal of the giant scheme which will be presented to councillors at parallel meetings this Thursday evening.
The planning committees will be asked to approve motions recommending the mayor of London reject the scheme which was masterplanned by Farrells with towers designed by PLP and additional elements by FaulknerBrowns, Buckley Gray Yeoman and Chris Dyson Architects.
Boris Johnson called in the scheme in September after a request by joint developers Hammerson-Ballymore and is expected to make a decision by next spring.
The developers complained the two local authorities were taking too long to reach a decision. The planning application was submitted last year but since then the developer has been forced to reduce the height of the towers to 46 and 38 storeys and the number of flats to 1,356.
Hackney objected on the grounds that the scheme was 鈥渘ot considered to be of excellent architectural design鈥� and would thus harm a number of views including the setting of the Tower of London world heritage site.
The council also said it amounted to overdevelopment, was not an employment-led scheme, did not contain enough affordable housing and would cause 鈥渄irect and substantial harm to a designated heritage asset鈥�.
Tower Hamlets council made a number of similar points and objected to the scheme鈥檚 failure to provide 鈥渒ey north/south, east/west routes鈥�.
The site, surrounded by five conservation areas and containing a listed viaduct and wall, was built in 1840 as Shoreditch station before becoming a goods-only station in 1881. It has been largely derelict since a fire in 1964, aside from pop-up uses such as Boxpark.
Jonathon Weston, senior development manager at Ballymore, said the scheme was 鈥渞ight for this site鈥�, and would provide 75,000sq m of office space, 10% of it 鈥渁ffordable鈥�, designed with local Tech City businesses in mind.
鈥淲hen complete, the Goodsyard will also bring much-needed homes to the area including a significant number of three-, four- and five-bedroom properties, alongside flexible retail space and a public park,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e continue to work with Hackney, Tower Hamlets and the GLA to progress the application towards a positive decision for our scheme.鈥�
A version of was first published on 黑洞社区鈥檚 sister title BD
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