New plans for Morden Wharf deferred over plan to cut affordable housing

Greenwich councillors have deferred a decision on revised plans for the 36-storey Morden Wharf development after the company behind it said it wanted to cut the proportion of affordable homes on the site.

The 1,500-home scheme, on the old Tunnel Refineries site on the west side of the Greenwich Peninsula, caused a furore when it was originally approved in September 2021 on the casting vote of Stephen Brain, then the chair of the planning board. 

Opponents included Matt Pennycook, the Greenwich & Woolwich MP, who said he was “incredulous” that the towers of 21, 25, 30 and 36 storeys on the riverfront had been approved.

Pennycook, who is now the housing minister, said the “legitimate concerns of residents about luxury towers [had been] ignored”.

Two years after councillors backed the original project, the site, which is next to the Blackwall Tunnel approach, was sold to Galliard Homes and the Singapore-based company City Developments. The new owners have redesigned the scheme with new architects.

Galliard presented new plans to Greenwich’s planning board on Tuesday night – but said it wanted to cut the amount of affordable housing from 35 per cent to 10 per cent – all for social rent – citing increased construction costs and changing building regulations.

“Affordable housing” is a legal term that covers anything from social rent to selling or renting homes at a 20 per cent discount, and also includes shared ownership.

Galliard representatives said they were hoping the Morden Wharf scheme would eventually be able to deliver 20 per cent affordable housing or possibly higher, but it was waiting on Sir Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, to introduce emergency measures so these extra homes could be subsidised by grants.

Khan announced the measures in October, with one of them being that developers without an upfront viability assessment can proceed if they can provide at least 20 per cent affordable housing. Housing schemes are then able to access grant funding for about half of the affordable homes delivered.

Galliard said it had been in contact with the Greater London Authority (GLA) and had been told that it could access the mayor’s grants. 

Members of the planning board were unhappy to see the amount of affordable housing reduced by such a large extent, with one, Kidbrooke Village councillor Sandra Bauer, commenting that they would be setting a “dangerous precedent” if they were to approve this scheme.

Nick Williams, a Labour councillor for Greenwich Peninsula, spoke against the scheme and said the affordable housing reduction was a “massive blow to our borough’s housing targets”. He said: “It moves it from a flagship social project to a scheme that barely meets the barest of minimums.”

The planning board voted to defer the scheme, asking Galliard to come back when the emergency measures were in place and it had secured a provider for the affordable housing.

Gary Dillon, the chair of planning, said: “I need more confidence that we maximise the affordable delivery before any approval. And I believe that you’ve been supposedly been talking to [affordable housing providers] for three years, and don’t seem to have got anywhere.

“You have a commitment from the GLA, so I am going to put this to the vote for the deferral, which will add you more time to come back with some more defined numbers on the affordable [housing], and that will probably be more beneficial to you than me putting this to the vote and you getting a refusal tonight.”

Cameron Blackshaw is the Local Democracy Reporter for Greenwich and Bexley. The Greenwich Wire is a partner in the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which is a BBC-funded initiative to ensure councils are covered properly in local media. Additional reporting by Darryl Chamberlain.

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