Sutton Housing Society has received planning permission for 71 new homes on five separate locations across the south-west London borough of Sutton.
The five planning applications, all submitted simultaneously in October 2019 as part of the landlord’s ambitious development pipeline, are expected to increase Sutton’s available housing stock by 16%.
The new homes will be achieved by creatively unlocking the potential of rooftop or ‘airspace’ developments – building new flats on top of existing dwellings – and will provide new affordable housing for people over the age of 55.
The plans will also benefit existing residents by modernising fabric and appearance of the 50-year-old apartment blocks.
To achieve this, Sutton sought support from local architects Hoban Design and planning consultants WSP Indigo.
Commenting on the approval of the planning applications, Sutton Housing’s chief executive, Robin Roberts, said: “Although we are a smaller social landlord, we’ve worked hard to unlock the development potential of our existing schemes and establish an ongoing development pipeline.
“So rather than submit five planning applications at different times, we decided to grab Sutton council’s attention by submitting all five simultaneously.”
Building in the time of Coronavirus
This achievement, along with Sutton Housing Society’s wider approach to creatively unlocking sites, was recognised by Constructing Excellence, which awarded Sutton Housing its 2020 Client of the Year Award.
“The award is recognition that smaller landlords can mirror their larger colleagues and manage multiple projects consecutively to suit market or funding opportunities,” Roberts said.
“Thank you to Hoban Design Architects and WSP Indigo, and of course Sutton Council, who must take great credit for considering the application at the height of the coronavirus restrictions.”
Gary Hoban, a director at Hoban Design, said: “It’s always great when you exceed a client’s initial expectations on a project, so to achieve 100% planning approval on five sites simultaneously, at a higher than anticipated unit density, is a really pleasing outcome for everyone involved.”
Work is scheduled to begin on the first of the five sites in early 2021.
Image: Artist’s impression of Sutton Housing’s Griffiths Close
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