Supermarket sweep: Sajid Javid gives green light to Sainsbury’s £200m project with record low affordable housing quota

To the fury of local campaigners Redbridge council changed its mind about the proposal after an 11th-hour private deal with Sainsbury’s.
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Ruth Bloomfield28 March 2018

Struggling first-time buyers are missing out again. As the debate over affordable homes in new developments rages on, the Secretary of State for Housing has given the green light to a £200 million scheme in east London earmarking only four per cent of its 683 homes for low earners.

Sajid Javid, appointed in January, upheld an appeal by Sainsbury’s property arm which sought permission to regenerate a supermarket site in Ilford close to the station, just as new Crossrail services are about to spark fresh interest in the area.

The development will include shops, restaurants and hundreds of homes arranged within a series of landscaped squares and gardens.

Fewer than 30 homes will be offered for sale on a shared-ownership basis to those unable to buy in the area, or at subsidised rent levels for those struggling to pay market rents.

This affordable proportion is believed to be a record low for London housing developments of this scale.

The Chapel Square scheme was thrown out by Redbridge council in 2016 because of its lack of support for first-time buyers.

The council’s policy is that 50 per cent of new housing should be affordable. Sainsbury appealed and a public inquiry was held late last year.

In the Government’s decision notice, Sajid Javid points out that the project would provide a major boost to the volume of new housebuilding in the borough.

“The Secretary of State agrees … that affordable housing policy at both national and local level contains the provision for the amount of affordable housing to be reduced below target levels, having regard to viability considerations on a scheme by scheme basis.

“At first sight, the affordable housing offer of 27 units appears low,” says the notice.

However, it adds: “Very detailed financial justification has been provided to support the appellant’s position, with that position being independently reviewed for the council and endorsed on the separate occasions.”

To the fury of local campaigners the council decided not to contest the appeal, having changed its mind about the proposal after an 11th-hour private deal with Sainsbury’s which will see the finances of the scheme reassessed once homes start to be sold.

If profits rise from current projected values, then the council will get a slice of the proceeds.

Reuben Young, head of policy and communications at pressure group PricedOut, condemned the decision. “Although we need to pull out all the stops to get developers building, this shouldn’t mean negotiating down affordable housing contributions.

"If they were rigorously enforced, the cost of providing social housing would be priced into the land, and so true developers wouldn’t lose out in the long run, only landowners and land speculators would.”

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