Councillors call for mayor of London pressure over Elephant and Castle development

The council’s affordable housing policy for the area states that of the 35% affordable housing that should be provided, 50% must be for social rented and 50% should be intermediate.

Delancey is proposing to deliver 35% affordable housing, but only 12% will be for social rent, 5% at London living Rent and 16% at Discounted Market Rent.

Eight Labour councillors have spoken out against the development, which has been met with fierce opposition from some local residents who object to local businesses having to move out of the shopping centre and who want the developer to increase the number of social rented homes it provides.

The Labour councillors, including the deputy leader of the council, put out a statement saying they were “extremely disappointed” in the decision and called on the mayor of London Sadiq Khan to pressure the developer Delancey into providing more social homes.

The statement said: “As councillors representing the wards in and around Elephant and Castle, we have all expressed vocal opposition to Delancey’s proposals to regenerate the Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre since their initial application to Southwark’s planning committee in 2017. We are extremely disappointed in the decision, based on officer advice, and passed the application this evening. We were unconvinced by the evidence submitted to the meeting today which has not satisfied our concerns around the levels of social housing delivered, the fate of the Latin American businesses and community organisations at the centre or that it satisfies our public sector equalities duty.

“We commend the committee in securing positive conditions around the Section 106 agreement which will fund community infrastructure. We do not believe this meaningfully addresses our significant concerns.”

“We now call on the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, to pressure Delancey into delivering a better deal before signing off on this decision. We need more social homes to protect our vibrant trading community and secure a development which recognises the cultural and economic diversity of the area. As a Labour mayor of London, he must insist on changes which can fix these significant moral and policy failings.”

Johnson Situ, cabinet member for development, growth and planning, said: “The council has been pushing hard for the best possible outcome for local people and particularly the local businesses that will have to move out of the centre and find affordable retail space in the surrounding area.

“However, we recognise the concerns raised by some local residents about aspects of the regeneration, and I would like to assure them, and the whole community, that we will continue to work with our residents, businesses and Delancey to ensure the new development works for local people.

“As well as the increase in social housing on a site that currently has none, which we welcome, we have worked in a review mechanism that could lead to even more affordable housing being provided in the future if a certain level of profit is reached after the uncertainty of building costs is removed.”

A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said: “The application to redevelop the shopping centre at Elephant and Castle will now go before the mayor for him to consider on its merits. Therefore it is inappropriate for him to comment further at this stage. However, he believes that local businesses and communities must be taken into account in all development proposals for the capital, and that any application must support appropriate levels of genuinely affordable housing.”