Tower Hamlets council gives go ahead for 202-home regen plan

Tower Hamlets council has given housing association One Housing and developer Mount Anvil the green light for a 202-home regeneration scheme in East London. 

Ninety-four of the homes on the Bellamy Close and Byng Street estate regeneration on the Isle of Dogs will be available to those on the local housing waiting list or for shared ownership. 

Tower Hamlets Strategic Development Committee gave a resolution to grant planning approval to the plans, which include include new homes for 24 One Housing tenants currently in affordable homes on the estate with their rent and tenancy terms protected.

Chris Hagerman, director of regeneration at One Housing, said: “We are delighted to have received planning approval for these much-needed new homes.”

Darragh Hurley, managing director of Mount Anvil, added: “Residents’ feedback has been crucial to our proposals throughout the planning process and we’re looking forward to creating a scheme will make One Housing and their residents proud.”

Residents of Bellamy Close and Byng Street backed the plans in a ballot in December 2019. 

The scheme has been updated from the innitial plans for a 148-home scheme, which was granted a resolution to grant permission by Tower Hamlets in April 2021, with the help of architect firm HTA Design. 

The increase in the number of homes means there is a greater housing mix ranging from one, two, three & four bedroom family houses and apartments across social rent, shared ownership and private housing tenures.

Work on the homes is expected to begin towards the end of the year or early next year 2023, with the first completions due in 2025.

It is expected the scheme will be air quality neutral, provide a biodiversity net gain, and there will be a 40% reduction in carbon emission on site with the remainder of contributions made financially to the local authority.

Tower Hamlets’ planning officers said the scheme “would deliver a high quality, well integrated, inclusive sustainable place”.

One Housing Group has reported a £25.5m pre-tax deficit for the year to March 2021 after being hit by a series of exceptional costs, including fire safety works to its existing properties.

London-based housebuilder Mount Anvil recommitted itself to working only in the capital after it saw its pre-tax profit drop by more than 80% in the 2020 calendar year.