Westminster council has been accused of “underhand and unscrupulous” behaviour by the Labour party after using permitted development rights legislation to fast-track demolition of a 1930s estate.

A planning application for a new £350m, 750-home development designed by Arup on the site of the Ebury Bridge Estate in Pimlico has yet to be approved, but permission for demolition of 336 homes was granted through a prior approvals process under the permitted development rights legislation.

Tom Copley, Labour’s London Assembly housing spokesperson, said this amounted to Westminster council “using all the loopholes at their disposal to rush through these underhand and unscrupulous demolition plans”.

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