Southwark’s decision comes in week housebuilder’s chair said ‘when you have a viability challenge, you’ve got to make compromises’

Southwark council in London has rejected a 1,060-home scheme after developer Berkley Homes reduced the affordable housing offer in its revised plans.

The updated proposals for phase two and three of Bermondsey Place would have slashed the level of homes for social and intermediate rents from 40% to 12% to make the scheme viable. Councillors unanimously agreed that this does not meet the housing need of the borough.

Further changes to the PRP-designed plans for the Old Kent Road area also lowered the tallest of its eight blocks from 44 to 36 storeys.

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To make the scheme viable, Berkeley cut the amount of affordable housing from 40% to just 12%. But Southwark councillors said the plan was at odds with the borough’s housing needs and turned it down for planning

The decision came in the week that Berkeley chair Rob Perrins that “at local level, we’re getting 75% of our applications refused”.

He told Wednesday’s Building the Future conference: “When you have a viability challenge, you’ve got to make compromises. At the moment, no one’s willing to give up anything in priority terms.”

The first phase of Bermondsey Place is currently underway, delivering 285 homes with for 40% affordable housing behind Asda’s Old Kent Road store.

Work began in 2021 but stalled in 2022 due to rising costs before recommencing in 2025.

A hybrid planning application for 1,300 homes at Bermondsey Place was approved in 2020.

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