Move follows council report conceding £4bn British Land scheme can only provide 3% affordable housing
Sadiq Khan has called in British Land’s 3,700-home Canada Water masterplan following a council report which found only 3% of the scheme’s homes could be delivered as affordable.
The move comes after planning consultant DP9 wrote to Khan on 27 November on behalf of British Land asking the London mayor to take over the determination of the £4bn Allies & Morrison-designed megaproject from Southwark council.
The developer is said to have been engaged in “protracted discussions” with the council over the scheme and any further delay would “significantly impact on their potential to deliver the substantial benefits that the scheme provides,” according to DP9.
In his letter to the developer accepting the request, Khan said there were “sound planning reasons” for his intervention, including the “significant impact” the development would have on the implementation of the London Plan.
Khan added: “I must also have regard to targets identified in the development plan,” adding that in the “context of London’s overall housing need, the development would significantly contribute towards the delivery of housing in London.”
British Land’s original masterplan for the site, approved by Southwark council in May 2020, would have delivered 2,815 homes and 4.7 million sq ft of retail, office and leisure space with 35% of its housing classed as affordable, provided as 25% social rent and 10% intermediate.
But the scheme was drastically redesigned last year with the number of homes increased to 3,700, the non-residential floorspace cut to 4.6 million sq ft and building heights increased by as much as 13 storeys.
The developer has said the revisions, submitted through a Section 73 application in January 2025, were prompted by the sharp post-pandemic rise in construction costs, a slowdown in the housing market and regulatory changes including requirements for second staircases in residential buildings above 18m.
A report produced by planning consultant Quod for British Land in January found the revised scheme could only deliver a maximum of 3% affordable housing without public subsidy.
This report was questioned by the council in its own report in March which had found a “series of omissions and gaps” in the evidence underpinning Quod’s appraisals. The firm followed up with another report addressing these omissions and the council appointed its own consultant, Stace, to review British Land’s cost plan.
But in a following report, commissioned by the council and published in October, consultant BNP Paribas Real Estate agreed with Quod’s original findings on the maximum 3% level of affordable housing.
BNP Paribas Real Estate said: “Our assessment indicates that this conclusion is correct,” adding that the level of affordable housing could be increased to 5.46% with a GLA grant of £39m and an additional public subsidy of £40m.
The percentage of affordable delivery was based on an agreement between British Land and Southwark council that the scheme would target a profit margin of 16%.
DP9’s letter to Khan came a day after the agreed determination date with Southwark council’s planning committee for the revised masterplan was missed, the second time the date had been proposed and expired since the Section 73 application was submitted.
The original determination period for the amended application had expired on 30 April without a planning decision.
Khan will hold a public hearing on the masterplan and will hear views from Southwark council, British Land and any objectors or supporters before making a decision. No date has been set for the hearing.
Other architects working on the masterplan include Morris & Company, Hawkins Brown and Townshend Landscape Architects. The wider project team includes Aecom as project manager, DP9 on planning, Arup on transport, Waterman on structures and environment and GIA on daylight. Appointed contractors delivering phase one of the scheme, which started construction in 2021, are Mace and Wates.
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