Details of plans to build more than 200 council homes at Battersea Power Station have been released. A total of 203 flats are proposed for a new 18-storey apartment block on the 42-acre site, in a major turning point for the £9 billion regeneration.
Labour-run Wandsworth Council partnered with Battersea Power Station Development Company (BPSDC) last year to deliver affordable housing, after previously criticising the developer for only agreeing to build 386 affordable homes, or nine per cent, of roughly 4,000 homes. The regeneration was originally approved when the council was still under Conservative control in 2011 and began in 2013.
Labour councillors turned down an invitation to attend the opening of the restored Grade II* listed power station in 2022, after taking control of the council that year, and applied increasing pressure on BPSDC to deliver more affordable homes, which have now been earmarked for an undeveloped plot of land on the site.
The council’s Housing Committee heard in January the authority had exchanged contracts with BPSDC to provide 203 council homes to families on its waiting list. The authority bought a long-term lease on the land, lasting for hundreds of years, which is owned by BPSDC as freeholder.
The number of homeless households on Wandsworth’s waiting list in March last year was 11,183, including 3,771 homeless households.
The developer’s planning application is now available to view on the council’s website, with full details of the proposals.
The 203-home building would range from 14 to 18 storeys in height, while it would have a communal rooftop garden and gardens for residents on the ground floor. It would have seven Blue Badge parking bays and 374 cycle parking spaces.
The council homes would come in addition to the level of affordable housing already agreed by BPSDC, taking this to 15 per cent, if the scheme wins final planning permission.
Planning documents said the scheme marked a “key milestone for the masterplan”, while showing the developer’s “continued commitment and appetite to creating an exciting and attractive place at Battersea Power Station”.
The homes are planned to be completed and occupied by 2029, if the application is approved.
It would be delivered as part of phase five of the masterplan, which is split into seven phases overall.
More than 2,200 homes have been completed so far in the redevelopment, including 386 affordable homes at New Mansion Square in partnership with Peabody.
The regeneration has also seen the opening of new shops, restaurants, bars and a Northern Line extension connecting Battersea to the Underground for the first time.
There are still more than 16 acres of land left to be redeveloped in the remaining phases of the masterplan, which are being designed by the developer.
New cultural attractions and experiences, along with extra homes and workplaces, are expected to come forward in these future phases.
