Kensington Forum Hotel development focuses on affordability

Queensgate Investments and Rockwell has finally secured approval to redevelop the Kensington Forum Hotel. Original plans for a new 749-room hotel, 340 serviced apartments and 46 homes were rejected by Kensington and Chelsea council in September 2018, partly because just 20 of the proposed homes would be affordable.

London mayor Sadiq Khan has now approved the revised plans, which include the creation of 62 homes, all of which will be available at social rent levels.

However, despite this landmark case, the creation of affordable housing in the borough continues to fall short of demand. According to a draft report from November 2018, only 190 affordable homes were completed in 2016–2017, compared with the need of 1,170 units per year.

Ian Fergusson, planning associate at planning and design consultancy Barton Willmore, says: “There’s a housing crisis across London, but the scale of need for affordable housing in Kensington and Chelsea dwarfs the number of new affordable homes being delivered.”

Indeed, Tom Copley, the London Assembly member for housing, has admitted that Kensington and Chelsea has a “poor record” regarding affordable housing. He has clarified that City Hall wants to see 116,000 “genuinely affordable” homes developed across the city as a whole by 2022.

This news was brought to you by Morgan Pryce, a specialist tenant acquisition agent with offices in Oxford Circus and the City. Morgan Pryce specialises in search, negotiation and project management and works exclusively for tenants.