A £100m plan to regenerate Swiss Cottage town centre has been given the go-ahead by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.
Essential Living, a developer and operator of homes for rent, will deliver and manage the mixed-use scheme under a single brand. As well as an array of communal facilities and amenity spaces, the plans will include 54 new affordable homes and purpose-built space for community use.
Camden councillors refused the proposals for 184 flats in September 2014, despite a recommendation by the council’s planning officers that the scheme should be approved.
The scheme, designed by GRID architects, also received backing from the Design Council and the Mayor of London.
Last week, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) supported the recommendation of an independent planning inspector that the council’s refusal should be overturned, noting the significant social benefits the development would bring.
Theatre Square, designed by GRID architects, will see an old 1980’s office building demolished to make way for a 24-storey residential tower containing 130 apartments specifically designed for renting.
The tower will be joined with a part five-storey, part seven-storey lower podium block hosting 54 affordable homes, as well as flexible retail space to animate street level and a new community centre.
The government has previously stated the importance of delivering purpose-built, professionally managed private rented homes funded by institutional investment – known increasingly as build to rent.
There is some £90bn worth of potential investment according to the Better Renting Campaign, which represents the emerging sector, and they say that there needs to be wider appreciation of how the model works for it to be fully unlocked.
Another of the Essential Living’s schemes received unanimous outline planning permission earlier this month from Ealing Council. The Perfume Factory in Acton, the largest build to rent project in London, will see over 500 flats for rent built.
