South London: Huge Vauxhall tower blocks with 897 beds for students approved over hotel alternative
Plans to build a huge 897-bedroom student accommodation complex in South London have been approved by the local council.
Lambeth Council’s Planning Applications Committee gave the Vauxhall development the green light following a meeting last Tuesday (July 1).
The plans will see land at 36-46 Albert Embankment redeveloped to make way for two connected 30-storey and 27-storey towers consisting of 769 student rooms and 897 beds.
Student accommodation provider and applicant, Urbanest also plans to build a café and a cultural space and will refurbish and carry out a two-storey roof extension to Vintage House, a four-storey office building which is also located on site.
Johnny Manns, who was speaking on behalf of Urbanest, told the committee the company has been delivering “high quality” student accommodation in London since 2009, and said two of its existing schemes are located in Lambeth. Mr Manns said: “As [University College London] has made clear, the shortage of student accommodation in London is now so acute that they’ve had to withdraw the guarantee of an offer of a bed for first year students.
“Our scheme will deliver 769 purpose-built student bedrooms that will help to alleviate this shortage.”
He went on to say: “We are committed to beginning construction work as soon as possible, our design team is fully mobilised on the detailed design of the building and we already have our main contractor partner on board.
“This is a scheme that delivers for students, for Lambeth, and for the local community. With your support, we’re ready to move forward and begin delivery later this year.”
Urbanest initially proposed 35per cent of the student accommodation would be ‘affordable’ however this has since been reduced to 20per cent.
According to a council document, the figure has been reduced due to concerns over the amount of student accommodation schemes that have appeared in Lambeth and elsewhere in London in recent years, and the impact this could have on preventing other applications for housing from coming forward.
Urbanest is set to make a financial contribution of £8.02million which will go towards building affordable housing in the borough and is equivalent to the 15per cent of affordable student accommodation that has been reduced.
Nia Fraser, from planning and development agency Newmark, said: “We recognise concerns about the volume of purpose built student accommodation, but the strategic need is clear from the London Plan, appeal decisions and indeed through recent call-ins by the Mayor [Sadiq Khan].
“These schemes count towards housing delivery and relieve pressure on the private rental market, however we appreciate the balance that must be struck. That’s why this proposal also concludes a payment [of more than £8m] in lieu, which supports Lambeth’s delivery of new affordable C3 housing including projects like Fenwick South.”
The committee also heard from Isla Wrathmell, a Vauxhall ward councillor who was speaking out against the plans. Cllr Wrathmell said the plans should be refused because the site already has a live planning application for a hotel, which was approved in December 2023.
The hotel plans will expire in December 2026 if it’s not built and implemented by this date. Cllr Wrathmell said: “This is a major site on the Albert Embankment and my view is that the application should be refused, there is already a live planning permission for this site, a hotel, it is viable and it was supported on economic grounds.
“Let’s be clear, we’re not choosing between development and no development, we’re choosing between a hotel and a block of 897 student beds.”
Cllr Wrathmell added: “When you make that comparison the answer is simple, the hotel contributes more to the local economy [with] more jobs and more footfall into local cafés and services.
“The student scheme does not come close, in fact officers admit the number of jobs delivered is lower than the hotel scheme and yet somehow we are being asked to trade down to accept less and call it progress.”
Cllr Wrathmell said the £8.02m financial payment is a “serious deviation from planning policy” and said it should be ring-fenced for Vauxhall.
Later on in the meeting it was revealed that the money can be ring-fenced for affordable housing, but not for a particular ward which is in line with the council’s own policies on affordable housing. The committee then deliberated for some time, but ultimately the plans were approved with five votes in favour and one abstention.