800 homes in Barnet gets go ahead after Mayor’s intervention

A major redevelopment in Barnet of 844 new homes, with 41% being affordable, has been approved by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. 

Plans to redevelop the disused Pentavia Retail Park in Mill Hill were originally rejected by Barnet Council in July 2018 because members of its planning committee felt the scheme was an over-development of the site and would not provide enough affordable housing.

Over the five years from 2012 to 2017, Barnet delivered just 21% of the affordable homes target in the London Plan (1,645 from a target of 7,876) and 67% of the overall target number of homes delivered (7,670 of a target of 11,463).

Following the council’s rejection, the Mayor called in the application last November in order to subject it to further scrutiny before making a decision.

The scheme approved by the Mayor will provide more affordable homes than were delivered across the whole of Barnet in the year 2017-18.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: ‘This is classic example of an underused site with the potential to deliver significant numbers of homes, including affordable homes at social rent and London Living Rent levels.

‘I’m clear that I will use all the levers at my disposal to increase the delivery of new genuinely affordable homes across the capital.

‘It’s testament to the hard work of my planning team that, since I called this application in for further scrutiny, they have been able to increase the level of affordable housing even higher than it was previously.

‘As such, having considered all the evidence available to me, I’ve decided to approve this application.’