UK: The Collective has been granted planing consent for its latest London project, a 112,000 square foot scheme in Battersea.
The consent was granted at the London Borough of Wandsworth’s first virtual planning committee meeting.
The project will feature 263 coliving units, of which 182 will be for long-stay tenancies of six months minimum and 81 for short-stay tenancies of one night to several months. They will be spread across the project’s two buildings, which will stand at seven and eight storeys.
The long-stay units will be made available to local people and key workers first. Offered at discounts of up to 30 per cent of market rental levels, 35 per cent of the rooms are classed as affordable and will be accessible to local workers with an annual income of £22,000. A proportion of the short-stay co-living rooms will be retained for the council’s temporary housing list and will be used as emergency accommodation.
The two buildings will be connected by a shared ground floor, which will contain shared amenity space for members and local residents, as well as local organisations and charities. This will include a restaurant, workspace for start-ups, study facilities and a flexible community space. Construction is due to begin on the Chatfield Road site later this year or in early 2021. Opening is scheduled for 2023.
The site is close to transport links at Clapham Junction and Wandsworth Town and does not include any car parking spaces. Members will be encouraged to use sustainable modes of transport and the scheme will have 249 cycle parking spaces, including storage for folding bikes. The building has been designed to achieve WELL Certification and will include roof-level allotments and urban gardens.
“We are extremely grateful to Wandsworth Council for working through the current difficult circumstances to go ahead with one of London’s first virtual planning committee meetings, and ultimately granting consent for this project,” said James Penfold, global corporate affairs director at The Collective. “We are of the firm belief that this type of proactive action by the council, and public-private sector partnership working, will help to ensure that the Wandsworth economy and London is well placed to recover quickly as we emerge from the Covid-19 crisis and into the future.”
