Plans for three blocks of student housing in east Greenwich, one seven storeys tall, could get the go-ahead next week after council planners recommended they be approved.

The blocks would replace the old Speedy Hire warehouse on Woolwich Road, close to the River Ale House micropub.

Plans for 58 flats in a six-storey block on the site were approved in June 2022, but came to nothing.

Now 190 student rooms are planned in the reworked scheme, with the eastern block topping out at seven storeys. Some 67 rooms would be designated “affordable”, which under City Hall rules is defined as up to 55 per cent of an annual student maintenance loan.

Three student blocks in a row
The new design features three blocks. Image: Apt/AVF Developments via council documents

If approved, the scheme would join a queue of new plans for student accommodation in the north of the borough, with hundreds of rooms approved in Woolwich town centre last month and a major scheme of 900 rooms submitted last November. In Greenwich, plans for 820 rooms in a tower next to the O2 were approved a year ago, although work has yet to start, while a tower of 414 rooms by Deptford Creek was  approved in November 2023.

There has been a London-wide boom in student housing, as builders take advantage of looser regulations compared with ordinary homes, which are less lucrative than they were.

Render of new block in street scene
The proposed block would be close to the River Ale House micropub. Image: RMBP/AVF Developments via council documents

In Greenwich, developers are able to pay less community infrastructure levy on student housing than they would ordinary homes, with the council saying it was unable to increase rates because comparatively few developments had been built until recently. Planners say that more student housing will free up family-sized homes for residents to move into.

There are already 94 student rooms in two blocks close to the Speedy Hire site while there are about 400 students in nearby bedsits, a report to councillors says.

Render or new block in street scene
The planned block adds to a number in the pipeline for Greenwich borough. Image: RMBP/AVF Developments via council documents

There have been eight objections to the plans, including one focusing on the loss of a small amount of green space compared with the previous plans. There are also concerns about a loss of light in the Dandridge Close estate behind the site.

The Speedy Hire unit is one of the few remaining commercial sites in a part of east Greenwich once dotted with such businesses. It was originally built for Dandridge, a local industrial concern commemorated in the estate behind the building. Until 1970 there was a large church hall on the site, the Cecil Rooms. 

Councillors are due to decide on the plans at a planning board meeting on February 20.

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