Pilbrow & Partners wins appeal over rejected Belgravia housing

Pilbrow & Partners has won an appeal against Westminster Council’s decision to reject a 60-home scheme in BelgraviaThe architect’s plans will replace the 1950s Kilmuir House block in Ebury Street with a six-storey, U-shaped building, which includes ground-floor shops. The practice first submitted plans in 2020 and later updated them following publication of a new London Plan.Planners had recommended the 10,109m² scheme for approval, despite saying that the 7 per cent affordable housing proposed fell ‘significantly below the policy requirement of 35 per cent’. The council’s officers accepted a financial viability appraisal which said the scheme would ‘result in deficit’ and could not support more affordable homes.But in June the all-electric scheme was narrowly rejected – by four votes to three – after councillors raised concerns about it only providing four affordable homes.A reason for refusal, published by the local authority, claimed the proposed scheme ‘failed to include adequate provision of affordable housing’ and noted that the London Plan required ‘the maximum deliverable level of affordable housing’ – adding that ‘the circumstances of [this] case [do not] justify an exception to these policies’.In August last year the developer, Kilmuir House (UK), a company owned by Native Land via an offshore company registered in Jersey, appealed against the decision.A statement of case document produced by the developer said that there was ‘no evidence that the proposal could reasonably provide more affordable housing’.The document pointed out that Westminster Council’s decision was ‘contrary to … the independent viability evidence of the council’s own consultants’. Westminster’s own financial viability consultant had said that developing the scheme would create a deficit of £8 million, adding that ‘the scheme cannot support any further affordable housing at this stage’.U lanning inspector Matthew Nunn said: ‘ Regarding the designm Nunn added: ‘ Alasdair Nicholls, chief executive of Native Land, said he was ‘pleased’ the lengthy planning process had been brought to ‘a positive conclusion’ and had achieved ‘a consent in Belgravia at a time when planning permissions for new homes in central London are becoming a rarity’.He said: ‘Our proposals were policy compliant, following over a year of pre-application discussions, and had the support of local residents and stakeholders.‘It’s been a time-consuming and costly process for all parties and illustrates the challenges planning in London presents for the delivery of homes of all types.’Location Eaton Terrace, Belgravia Local authority Westminster City Council Type of project Residential Client Native Land Architect Pilbrow & Partners Landscape architect TBC Planning consultant DP9 Structural engineer Waterman Gross internal floor area 10,109m²