27 Jun 2014, 4:43 pm
Developer Albany Homes had applied to Greenwich Council to remove an obligation requiring the provision of 20% affordable housing in the planning permission granted for its 100-home Mast Pond Wharf tower scheme in south east London in March 2012.
After the Council failed to issue a decision, Albany appealed directly to the Planning Inspectorate and an inspector allowed the appeal (5-page / 87KB PDF) agreeing with the developer's analysis that the scheme would be unviable unless the affordable housing obligation was removed and there was a 10% increase in property values.
Applying for a judicial review of the inspector's decision, the Council reportedly argued that the inspector went beyond what was permissible in considering the development's potential future viability rather than its current viability alone.
Refusing the application, the High Court judge agreed with the inspector's approach and found the Council's arguments to be "misconceived", according to the report.
