Public inquiry into a 150-bedroom student residence – London
Developers UKSA Ewer Street SARL launched an appeal after Southwark Council failed to make a decision on the application within the statutory three-month time limit.
The two-day inquiry will focus on whether Southwark’s recently adopted policy – which calls for affordable housing to be provided in connection with developments of student accommodation – should be applied to this scheme.
Planning inspector John Chase opened the inquiry at Southwark Council’s Tooley Street offices on Wednesday morning.
Russell Harris QC, representing the appellant, told the inquiry that the council’s insistence on a financial contribution to affordable housing was “unviable and out of proportion”.
He said that his client’s development would meet a “significant need” for student accommodation in Southwark and London …