South Kensington's Eldon House to be demolished for luxurious new flats with green roof full of plants

Kensington and Chelsea Council’s Planning Committee Chair, Cllr James Husband, said the development was “acceptable overall”, adding the new flats were a marked improvement for Elden House in South Kensington.

In a planning meeting on Tuesday (July 1), council officers said review mechanisms are being put in place to assess the development’s viability at an early stage of construction and at the sale stage.

They said: “The reason there is an early one and a late-stage one is to make sure [that] even if took 10 years to build and they went between different developers – things have happened like that, where economic circumstances change – we will not lose out as a council based on those real sales values.”

If profit increases, Tribeca Holdings Limited, the developer, will also have to pay more in financial contributions, the officer said.

Tribeca wants to replace Elden House with a six-storey “high quality, sustainable” building replete with 24 luxury residential flats.

In its submission to Kensington and Chelsea Council’s Planning Committee, consultants hired by Tribeca said the cost of the newbuild scheme and the benchmark land value made the provision of affordable housing on or off-site unviable.

They also said as a significant landholder in the area, Tribeca was prepared to negotiate a “reasonable payment” with the council in order to contribute towards affordable housing in the borough. But in a council report, the local authority said “exceptional circumstances” meant no payment in lieu was secured.

Tribeca’s development consists of 14 single-bed units, seven two-bed units and three large three-bed units.

It will also provide 745sqm of commercial space at ground floor and a ‘green’ roof filled with plants. Elden House was built in the 1960s and provides 20 residential flats and a luxury clothes designer.

In 2023 permission was granted to refurbish and extend the building, with one additional storey on top and two storey extension to the northern side, protruding balconies and a full re-clad with new windows. But that work was never carried out so this new planning permission overrides that.