Proposals for a sweeping redevelopment of an Islington housing estate adding hundreds more homes have been approved.
By Josef Steen, Local Democracy Reporter
Proposals for a sweeping redevelopment of an Islington housing estate adding hundreds more homes have been approved.
Islington Council has waved through plans to revamp the New Barnsbury Estate following years of consultation and delays.
Up to 426 extra properties are set to be delivered as part of the redevelopment, which will see several housing blocks demolished and rebuilt over a ten-year period.
On Tuesday (9 December) The Town Hall chamber was packed with residents who had turned up both in support and against the plan.
Over 60 residents had already written in to object, particularly to proposals to construct seven tall structures up to 21 storeys high.
‘Monstrosities’
Some argued the addition of three canalside towers would radically change and damage the surrounding area. Resident Hilary Norris warned that allowing these “monstrosities” to be built would have a “devastating impact” on Regent’s Canal and “send out the message that anything goes”.
Ms Norris also raised the wider problem of many new builds being bought out by foreign landlords and left standing empty – a point also made “passionately” by the local MP.
“In a speech at Westminster Hall in November […] Emily Thornberry spoke about yet another great big tower block that’s empty, dark and owned by people in China who have decided to buy a flat in Islington instead of a gold bath,” she said.
“Was she thinking of the two of the three tower blocks at the banks of Regent’s Canal, likely to be sold off to landlords – leading to empty blocks and inflated rents, making huge profits off the backs of our citizens?”
But many showed up to back the plans, including estate tenant Celine, who highlighted residents’ “frustration and fatigue” from waiting years for the ageing buildings to be renewed.
“It’s important we all feel heard. But many of these objections come from a place of comfort, rather than lived experience,” she said.
The council, meanwhile, ruled that the negative impacts, including the loss of daylight, would be outweighed by the significant social benefits of new affordable housing.
‘The wait needs to end’
The estate’s modern blocks, dubbed the ‘New Barnsbury Estate’, were completed in phases between the 1950s and 1970s. The ‘old’ red-brick Barnsbury Estate, meanwhile, dates back to the 1930s.
Plans to transform the estate were first approved by the council in 2023, but the application was later changed to comply with new building regulations brought in following the Grenfell Tower fire.
Developer Mount Anvil has driven the development in partnership with community housing association Newlon Housing Trust, which has secured existing low social rent for tenants when they return to their homes.
Newlon CEO Ruth Davison said it was important that the promises to improve the homes “well past their best” were kept, especially since many residents were currently living in overcrowded properties.
“These will be homes children can bring their mates to. Where the space to do homework, a space to play,” she said.
“We have pushed hard. And believe me, your officers have rung everything out of this deal. It isn’t utopia, but it is a vision for the state and people’s futures, far brighter than the alternative. The waiting needs to be over.”
The application itself does not state the estimated cost of the project, but it does make clear changes to Building Safety Regulations alone had resulted in an extra £30m in overheads. Construction costs, meanwhile, had ballooned by £25m since planning permission was first granted.
Ms Davison added that the trust was “pumping tens of millions of pounds in upfront to unlock the development at risk […] because it matters”.
Of the new dwellings, 38% will be classed as ‘affordable’ but unusually for new builds in London, all of these will be at social rent. While the borough’s standard of affordable homes is 50%, it was accepted that this was the maximum viable amount that would still allow the scheme to progress.
The redevelopment will also add a slew of upgrades to existing social infrastructure, including an expanded community centre, nursery and green space, five new shared courtyards and 280 new trees – though 103 are set to be cut down.
The proposals also include 1,500 square metres of commercial floorspace.
Works are set to commence ‘towards the end of 2025’, the application states.
