Lansdowne Green, Lambeth

Hi Babs, 

We'll look at visits to the site over the first couple of weeks of March and either archive it then (if there's little interest) or set a hard deadline to archive it after Easter. 

Hi Babs, thank you for your questions.

Our letter refers to development activities associated only with the Lansdowne Green garage site. Other development projects are continuing, with decisions made on a case by case basis. 

The Lansdowne Green garage site project is on hold for the time being. It will be reconsidered again in the future but it's not possible to anticipate when this will be as timing depends on factors outside our control (such as interest rates and build costs). 

Thank you for your question.

One of the reasons we’re not able to build 100% homes for social rent on every development is that we can’t afford to do that. We often rely on cross-subsidy from shared ownership and sometimes private sale to make a development stack up financially. 

There is also an argument for building sustainable and balanced communities. Shared ownership offers opportunities for people to move into home ownership in communities where they could not afford to buy a home on the open market. 

Hi TG, thank you for your question. 

The Council benefits from nomination rights for all new social rented homes in Lambeth. This means all new homes that we build are offered to people on the Council’s needs-based waiting list. 

We would have to negotiate with Lambeth Council to make an exception to give priority to residents already living on the estate. This is known as a local lettings plan and we are fully supportive of this.

Lambeth have indicated that if new homes were to be built on the Lansdowne Green Estate, they’d be willing to consider a local lettings plan that prioritises existing households who are overcrowded or under-occupying. The homes those residents move out of would then be offered to those on the Council waiting list. 

At present, our proposals are only indicative, and the height, scale and massing is yet to be agreed with the Local Planning Authority. These components and the key determining factors in assessing the impact our proposals will have on surrounding homes.

However, we recognise the important of access to daylight for existing residents, and have undertaken a preliminary assessment on the daylight, sunlight and overshadowing impacts as a result of the current proposed building. 

Using a façade analysis to demonstrate the daylight and sunlight effects, the results have shown that there are isolated effects to daylight occurring on a selection of surrounding properties. Where these impacts occur, they are isolated, occurring in primarily flank facades that currently see very high levels of daylight for their urban context, and typically retain good levels of daylight. 

An assessment of the overshadowing effects has also been undertaken, using the BRE ‘2-hour sun on ground’ assessment. The assessment results have shown that the Proposed Development will not have a significant effect on sunlight levels to the neighbouring amenity spaces.

The development is being designed to be ‘tenure blind’; tenants and leaseholders will access their homes by the same communal entrance/lobby and the same lifts and stair cores. Each floor will be controlled with floor restrictive fobs so residents will only have access to their own floors. Cleaning and maintenance services will be consistent on all floors.

All other communal areas, including the residents’ garden and cycle storage areas will be accessible to all residents in the block.

There are 17 garages let to residents that would be lost through our proposed redevelopment. We understand some of the garages are used for general storage as they’re too small for most modern cars. We’re in the process of liaising with the garage tenants to agree suitable alternative storage/parking options. 

Some of the proposed wider project works, including additional tree planting and the relocation of the existing electrical sub-station will reduce the number of parking spaces available. A recent parking survey undertaken across the estate showed parking was at 81% and 84% capacity over two days and evenings in October 2022. We’re confident there’s sufficient capacity on the estate to reduce the overall number of parking spaces by around 3 to 4%.

We understand that Pilon currently use several spaces to park their company vehicles. Once their lease expires early next year, Pilon will no longer have a physical presence on site. We expect this will free up additional spaces for residents. 

In terms of parking for residents of the new development, Lambeth’s current approach seeks to reduce parking and encourage sustainable travel. Where public transport accessibility is deemed good, they encourage ‘car free’ developments. Tenancy and leasehold agreements for the new homes will specify this restriction, which will preclude them from applying for parking permits on the estate. We therefore expect no additional parking demand from the new homes.   

This doesn’t apply to accessible parking spaces, which residents have told us are underused. Two existing disabled parking spaces will be re-allocated for blue badge users in the new development.

A full CCTV drainage survey is currently underway to understand the capacity and condition of the existing infrastructure. This will identify if any upgrade works are required to service the new dwellings. Any upgrades will form part of our wider site enabling works.    

Southern Housing has identified the garage site on Lansdowne Green as an opportunity to provide much needed additional social rent and shared ownership housing. It’s our intention to proceed to engage in the planning process with the Local Authority to understand what form of development they would support. If viable, we intend to submit a planning application.  

We recognise the sensitivities of the estate and the potential disruption to residents. We’re committed to investing significant time and resources to engage with residents and listen to their feedback and suggestions. 

We will demonstrate how resident engagement has impacted our proposal through a series of ‘You said, we did’ events prior to submitting a planning application. This is with the intention to both minimise the impact of the new development and ensure there are benefits that existing residents will enjoy.  

We understand that for some residents the disruption that our proposals may cause will outweigh any potential benefits. Every resident will have the opportunity to comment on our planning application once submitted, and object if they wish to. Planning objections are a principal consideration of planning applications and will be reviewed when the planning application is being determined.  

Thank you for sharing your concerns regarding the maintenance services at Lansdowne Green Estate. We're committed to enhancing our maintenance and repairs service post the completion and occupation of the new building to prevent any backlog.

We plan to ensure we have sufficient skilled operatives to meet demand and reduce any backlog. In addition, engaging reliable external contractors will provide extra resources to handle any unexpected surge in repair requests.

We aim to keep our residents informed about the progress of repairs and maintenance work. Additionally, we welcome feedback to improve our services.

We appreciate your engagement and look forward to working collaboratively to enhance the living experience at Lansdowne Green Estate.