Planned 350-home Walthamstow development scrapped by City Hall as financial uncertainty clouds project, reports Victoria Munro
Plans to build more than 350 affordable homes in Walthamstow – backed by the Mayor of London – were quietly abandoned earlier this year, the Echo can reveal.
Sadiq Khan announced six years ago that the Greater London Authority (GLA) had purchased land in Walthamstow to be redeveloped into a 100% affordable housing scheme for first-time buyers.
The Webbs Industrial Estate site off Blackhorse Lane was once a glass lampshade and bulb factory and had stood empty for seven years, after plans to build a free school collapsed. A partnership of two housing associations – Swan Housing and Catalyst – was granted planning permission to build 359 affordable flats in March 2021, although Swan Housing pulled out a little over a year later.
However, in February this year, the GLA made the “difficult decision” to “terminate the development agreement” with Catalyst.
A GLA spokesperson told the Echo: “Unfortunately due to the impacts of Covid, rising interest rates and inflation driving up building and financing costs, as well as new building requirements, the scheme is no longer viable in its current form.
“Catalyst and the GLA examined a number of options to enable the scheme to go ahead. However, it was not possible to find a solution to overcome financial issues whilst staying within the terms of the original development agreement.
“The GLA remains committed to working with partners to deliver new homes for Londoners and is actively considering options to take the site forward.”
Since planning permission was granted, both of the housing associations originally meant to redevelop the site have merged with or been acquired by another housing association.
In February this year, Swan Housing became part of Sanctuary in a “rescue merger”, over a year after the Regulator of Social Housing warned there had been a “material deterioration in Swan’s financial position”.
Catalyst completed a merger with Peabody in April this year, a month after the Housing Ombudsman issued a special report on its “repeated failures”, which it said could be “indicative of wider service failure” as a landlord.
The plans for the former industrial site, given the name “Blackhorse Yard”, would have seen flats built in blocks of up to 15 storeys, along with affordable workspaces, artist studios and retail spaces.
According to a GLA press release in 2017, the project marked the first time any London mayor had bought and sold land. Speaking at the time, Khan said: “I’m working hard to identify more brownfield sites across London that we can use to build the thousands of genuinely affordable homes London so desperately needs.
“This site in Walthamstow shows the benefit of City Hall taking a greater role unlocking and bringing forward land for development – working closely with housing associations like Catalyst to deliver a scheme that is 100% affordable for Londoners struggling to buy a home.”
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