Detailed plans have been registered with the London Borough of Newham, for the redevelopment of vacant brownfield land to provide a residential development alongside new public space.
The current site in Cyprus is a vacant brownfield site that has been cleared to ground level and has been shut off to the public by hoarding, to prevent antisocial behaviour and protect the public
from the substantial amount of known contaminants.
Populo Living, the applicant is a private housing company that is 100% owned by the London Borough of Newham (LBE). The council-owned housing company operates a cross-subsidy model which uses all of the surplus generated from private dwellings to maxise the on-site affordable housing.
The applicant has appointed architect 3D Reid to produce design and access proposals for the site, and JLL was appointed to produce the financial viability assessment.
The application site encompasses an area of approximately 1.36ha and is currently vacant. The Site has been shut off to the public by hoarding, to prevent antisocial behaviour such as fly-tipping.
The wider area is comprised of mainly residential uses, with an established allotment site directly to the north and northwest of the Site. The surrounding area is characterised predominantly by lower density 2-3 storey 1980-90s housing estates, with brownfield sites, larger shopping outlets, and supermarkets in the wider vicinity.
The Site has a PTAL score of 2/3. The Site is well-served by the DLR, with Cyprus Station a 5-minute walk to the southwest and Gallions Reach and Beckton Station all within a 7-10 minutes’ walk.
The wider surrounding area is also changing rapidly and experiencing significant growth, particularly in the Royal Docks area to the south and west, that form part of Newham’s designated Arc of Opportunity.
This wider area around Royal Docks is seeing significant growth with a number of new schemes and applications, notably including large mixed-use developments, Silvertown Quays, and the Royal Albert Docks. To the southeast of the Site is also the large mixed-use Gallions Quarter development which received outline consent in 2016 and reserved matters in December 2019.
The residential development proposes a total of 220 homes, comprised of 153 homes for private sale and 67 homes classed as affordable divided between shared ownership and social rent, all of which will be delivered over 6 blocks ranging in height from 5 to 9 floors.
Within the 67 classed as affordable, 54 will be delivered as homes for social rent and the remaining 13 as shared ownership (part rent/part buy).
Across all tenures, there are 114 or 52% of the total proposed homes for larger households that cater for four or more people.
The scheme will be a car-free scheme aside from the seven spaces for disabled blue badge holders, this is due to the site’s close proximity to Cyprus Docklands Light Railway (DLR) station and an array of local bus services.