Supermarket giant Sainsbury’s has lost a High Court challenge against a secretary-of-state-level decision to block the redevelopment of its Whitechapel store with a 471-home scheme designed by Hutchinson & Partners.

Then housing secretary James Brokenshire went against a planning inspector’s advice in refusing the proposals when he issued his decision on the east London plans in June last year.

In addition to the new homes, which would have been provided in eight blocks of up to 14 storeys, the Sainsbury’s scheme would have delivered a new supermarket at the 3.1ha site – immediately north of David Adjaye’s Idea Store and a stone’s throw from Whitechapel station.

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