BexleyCo, Bexley’s council-owned housing developer, says it would lose money on the development and so can’t afford to provide any affordable units.
BexleyCo wants to demolish Erith Post Office and build in its place a part three, part six-storey building that contains one one-bedroom apartment, 24 two-bedroom flats and eight three-bedroom units.
The locally listed brick façade of the Post Office built in 1933 would be retained and integrated into the new development.
The proposal also contains space for two commercial units on the ground floor on the corner of Erith High Street and Bexley Road.
There would also be a “spacious” communal courtyard and roof terrace on the building that will offer residents views over the Thames.
The proposal is going before Bexley Council’s Planning Committee on November 13 where planning officers have recommended the scheme for approval, despite it not working towards the council’s own aspirations of having 50 per cent affordable housing as a proportion of all new developments.
The council has justified the lack of affordable units by explaining the overall cost of the project means the authority will lose money.
When the planning application was first submitted in June, a financial viability assessment predicted the 33-home block would leave the council £1.5m out of pocket once all the units were sold.
A review of this assessment carried out in August greatly reduced this deficit, but it still found that Bexley would be losing £113,000 on the post office development.
The review concluded that no affordable housing should be included because of this deficit.
Erith Councillor Chris Ball called the proposal’s omission of affordable housing a “clear breach of policy” and said it sends a “deeply concerning message”.
He said: “My most significant concern, and one that is consistently raised by constituents, is the complete absence of affordable housing in this proposal.
“The planning statement’s assertion of ‘100 per cent private housing due to viability concerns’ is not an acceptable justification when weighed against the overwhelming need for affordable homes in London and Bexley, and the explicit policies designed to address this.”
Residents who raised objections, of which there are eight, opposed the loss of Erith Post Office, the height of the development and a lack of adequate parking provision.
Bexley planners said the proposed commercial units could accommodate a Post Office, but that would be up to the Post Office itself to decide if it wanted to pursue that path.
The Bexley Civic Society also objected on the grounds it would be harming Erith’s Riverside Conservation area.
It was particularly critical of the proposal’s failure to retain a curved brick wall shielding a storage yard to the north of the existing building which it deems “makes the Post Office unique and distinctive in the townscape”.
