AHMM’s plans for women-only housing approved on second look

Hammersmith & Fulham Council has approved an AHMM scheme for 60 affordable homes for women and an 18-storey co-living tower block after initially blocking the schemeThe London borough’s development planning committee gave the green light to AHMM’s proposals in White City at a meeting on Tuesday (8 November), with the decision now set to be rubberstamped by the Mayor of London’s office.This week the committee was presented with a 177-page report drawn up by planning officers which sought to address concerns that led to councillors rejecting the scheme at a meeting on 11 October.The borough’s planners warned councillors that, without ‘robust evidence’, the decision not to grant permission could be ‘considered unreasonable’ and ‘pose a significant risk of the council losing [an] appeal’ by the scheme’s developer HUB.Committee members were told the local authority had ‘a duty to ensure that any decision is based on a full consideration of all the material planning considerations’ and that Hammersmith & Fulham ‘can reserve the right to consider an application further at a subsequent committee meeting provided that no decision notice has been issued’.The committee had earlier gone against its planning officers’ recommendation to approve the scheme at 227 Wood Lane, rejecting it on four grounds, including concerns with the overall ‘standard of the accommodation’, its height and potential overheating of the building in summer.AHMM and HUB subsequently provided ‘additional information’ to address councillors’ concerns, which included assurances over e-scooter charging points, microwaves in shared kitchens and the addition of solar-panel units on the roof of the 18-storey co-living tower featuring 209 studios.Women’s Pioneering Housing (WPH), a women-only housing association founded by the suffragettes, is set to gain 60 new affordable single homes for women as part of the scheme, as well as a new headquarters to replace its existing offices on the west London site.WPH’s chief executive Tracey Downie said in a statement that she was ‘delighted that we have reached this milestone’, adding: ‘This development will almost double the number of affordable homes on this site. Each home will be spacious and built to very high standards, significantly improving our offer to women locked out of the London housing market.’WPH is one of the only women-only housing associations in the UK.AHMM’s designs for the triangular 0.22ha plot bordered by Wood Lane (A219) and a railway line, include a communal space at ground floor level, landscaping and a linked tower for co-living units, mainly targeted at young professionals with studios of around 24m².The team’s original proposals for the site, revealed in 2020 , featured a 29-storey tower with 350 co-living apartments and an eight-storey block with 80 affordable homes.HUB says the scheme helps address a shortage of co-living accommodation in the capital. In recent years, local authorities have rejected similar co-living schemes, notably one by HawkinsBrown in Battersea.