A crumbling former children’s home currently housing homeless South Londoners faces a fresh threat of demolition after a developer appealed a council’s decision to refuse plans to replace it with a six-storey tower block.
The privately-owned property in Gipsy Hill currently provides temporary accommodation for Londoners.
But they could soon face having to leave after a developer made a new bid to force through its plans to knock down the building and construct 20 flats in its place.
Highland Residential Limited has asked the planning inspectorate – the government body that deals with planning appeals – to review Lambeth Council’s decision to refuse planning permission for the six-storey development last year.
Lambeth planning officers said the size of the proposed building would cause too much harm to a local Grade-II listed church and conservation area and didn’t bring enough public benefits to make up for the damage, in a December 2022 decision letter.
But in an appeal dated June 16, Highland Residential Limited called on the planning inspectorate to hold a public hearing so that the council’s reasons for rejecting the application on the basis of design could be tested and questioned.
The developer added that the issue of design was a “subjective matter”.
When the Local Democracy Reporting Service [LDRS] visited the property at 3 Highland Road this week, none of the current residents knew about the proposals to demolish the building. But a mum, who gave her name only as Danielle, said the building was falling apart and needed bulldozing.
The 31-year-old, who has been living in the property with her two young kids for a year, said: “They should knock it down. The windows [frames] are falling apart because they are made from wood. We have pest control around all the time because of rodents.
“The washing room downstairs is a mess and the washing machine is always breaking down. The bathroom is falling apart and the glass [in the windows] is broken. Repairs are really slow.”
Rafael Bueno, who has been living in the house for a year, said he recognised the need for the house to be completely revamped. But the 38-year-old, who said he was placed in the property by Lambeth Council, said it was better than being homeless.
Speaking through his friend, who translated, he said: “It’s good to have a place to live because before I had no place to live. It’s better than that. I need a permanent place though, anywhere better than this. The place needs completely fixing. There’s broken windows and the front door lock doesn’t work.”
Another man, who has been living in the building for four months, said he just hoped Lambeth Council found him an alternative home if demolition ended up going ahead.
He said: “It’s okay here. It’s quiet and most of the time people are nice. I hope they don’t just leave us in the lurch. The one thing we don’t want to end up is homeless.”
Both Rafael and the other man said they were placed in the property as temporary accommodation by Lambeth Council but the council insisted it hadn’t placed any individuals at the address.
The LDRS was unable to find out the company that was responsible for managing repairs and maintenance at the property.
The planned six-storey development attracted over 90 comments, many negative, on the council’s planning portal before a decision was made to refuse the application in December 2022.
One such remark read: “This development is not in-keeping with the surrounding neighbourhood, and the elevation of the proposed building far exceeds what is currently on the road and will result in a loss of light for neighbours.”
Another said: “While I support development and further housing I don’t know why this cannot be done in a manner that maintains the local setting and is affordable.
“This application could fit the same number of homes by replacing the six-storey building and five houses with three or four, three-storey buildings and this would better blend into the current neighbourhood.”
The planning inspectorate will make a decision on the appeal at a later date.
A Lambeth Council spokesperson said: “The planning application was refused by the local planning authority in December 2022 due to planning policy conflicts. We note the applicant has appealed and that appeal will be considered in due course by the national Planning Inspectorate.
“This privately owned property is currently a house in multiple occupancy managed by a letting agent on the owners’ behalf. The council has not placed any households at this address, but would encourage people with concerns to contact our Property Standards and Enforcement Service.”
