Philip Grant makes FOI request to Brent Council to try to get to the bottom of Rokesby Place tenure change

 Philip Grant, a frequent independent contributor to this blog, has submitted a Freedom of Information request on the tenure of the two new houses in Rokesby Place, following last night's Brent Planning Committee.

 Dear Mr Ansell and Brent FoI team,

I am addressing this email directly to you, as well as to Brent FoI, as you have been delegated the authority to make changes to yesterday evening's Planning Committee decision on application 22/1400 (Rokesby Place), including authority to vary conditions. I would request that you do not issue a consent letter on that application until this Freedom of Information Act request has been fully dealt with, as the answers to it may require an amendment to Condition 3, Affordable Housing.

The reason for this request is my concern about the change made to the type of affordable housing tenure for the two new four-bedroom homes at Rokesby Place, and how this came about, as there does not appear to be any justification for it in the documents for this application published on Brent's planning website.

The application form for 22/1400, submitted by Maddox Associates on 13 April 2022, clearly states for each of the two new homes:

 
'Tenure: Social Rent'.

 

The Planning Statement for this application, published on Brent's website on 19 April 2022, when describing the Proposed Development, states:

 
'Tenure
3.4 The houses are all proposed for social rent.'

 

Despite this, the proposed Condition 3 in the Officer Report to Planning Committee on 17 August was as follows:

 
'3. The residential dwellings hereby approved shall be provided as affordable housing in perpetuity, and shall be delivered as London Affordable rent units ....'

 

Freedom of Information Act Request: 

In order to establish why the tenure of the two houses was changed from Social Rent to London Affordable Rent, please let me have the following information and documents (in pdf format, please) in respect of the Rokesby Place planning application 22/1400, covering the period from 13 April 2022 to 17 August 2022:

1. On what dates in that period were there any communications (other than the Application Form and Planning Statement referred to above), in either direction, between the applicant (or its representatives) and Brent Planning Officers about the type of affordable housing tenure for the two proposed new homes at Rokesby Place?

2. Please let me have copies of all of the communications in 1 above.

3. If any of the copy communications requested under 2 above have names redacted, please provide details of the status, employer and job title of each person whose name has been redacted, if this is not shown on the copy where the name itself has been redacted.

4. If there are no communications of the type requested in 1 above, please explain when, how and why, and on whose authority, the proposed Social Rent tenure (shown in the April 2022 application documents for application 22/1400) was changed to the London Affordable Rent tenure proposed in Condition 3 of the Officer Report in August 2022.

Please acknowledge receipt of this email and FoI request. I look forward to receiving your full response to it at an early date. Best wishes,

Philip Grant.

Brent's Head of Planning has replied, saying: 'We will of course look at the questions you raise and respond shortly.'

Tenure split at Old Oak development does not reflect local housing need

Sian Berry. Green Party Assembly Member for London has submitted her response to the  second Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation's revised draft Local  Plan consultation.

The Mayor’s draft London Plan identified that the Old Oak and Park Royal Opportunity Area has the capacity to deliver at least 25,500 homes with around 20,000 of these to be built over the OPDC local plan period (2017 – 2037).

As such the OPDC site has the potential to make an important contribution to meeting London’s housing need in the next two decades.

The Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) that underpins the draft London Plan found that 47 per cent of new homes delivered in London up to 2041 should be at low cost rent – social rent. And that accounts for about 70 per cent of the ‘affordable’ homes in general.

The Mayor’s draft London plan also says he wants to see a minimum of 30 per cent social rent and 30 per cent intermediate homes at each development with the other 40 per cent left for the local authority – in this case the OPDC – to decide, based on local need.

However in Sian Berry’s response to Response to second Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) revised draft Local Plan consultation she has identified two key problems.

1. Tenure split of affordable homes does not reflect local housing need
2. London Development Database is not an up-to-date record of planning permissions granted at OPDC site 

Full response below (click bottom right corner for page view)