Frequently Asked Questions
Click the questions below to view the FAQs. If you have any other questions, please do get in touch with the team.
Overview
What will be delivered?
The scheme will provide 110 truly affordable homes for people who are currently on Lewisham Council’s and the City of London’s waiting lists.
A mix of 1, 2, 3 and 4-bed homes will be delivered to reflect the local need and make a positive contribution towards answering the borough’s housing shortage. Alongside much-needed new homes, the scheme will provide a community room, estate office, amenity and play space as well as a wide range of landscaping and ecological enhancements for the benefit of all residents.
What stage are you at in the planning process?
Planning permission was granted by London Borough of Lewisham for the proposals in June 2021.
What is the timeline for the works?
Works are due to start on-site at the start of 2023. This website will be a hub for updates and information throughout the construction phase and beyond.
How do I contact the team?
For general enquiries, please contact the project team: info@sydenhamhillproject.com, Freepost: COMM COMM UK (no stamp required) or 0800 772 0475
For site emergencies, please contact Lovell on 020 8371 3800 (0800 030 4690 out of hours).
New Much-Needed Affordable Homes
Why the Sydenham Hill Estate?
Our decision to look at developing new homes for social rent at the Sydenham Hill Estate has been driven by three main factors; the City of London’s housing need, the London Borough of Lewisham’s housing need and the housing need on the estate itself.
The Mais House building is vacant and does not meet current building regulations for access and fire. This area, as well as other underused parts of the estate such as the Otto Close garages, provides an opportunity for new homes.
The City Corporation has a high demand for social housing, and there is demand on the Sydenham Hill Estate for new and more suitable homes. Within Lewisham there is a high demand for social housing, with over 10,000 people on the housing waiting list. The emerging proposals aim to deliver a high proportion of affordable housing, exceeding London Plan requirements for social rent and delivery on other sites in the borough.
Why can’t you build somewhere else?
To deliver our overall target 700 homes for social rent, we are looking at redevelopment opportunities on all of our estates. This includes potential new homes at Sumner Buildings and Avondale Square Estate in Southwark, York Way in Islington, Windsor House in Hackney and the Golden Lane Estate across the boundary of City of London and Islington.
Has the City Corporation fully explored the option of refurbishing Mais House, rather than redeveloping?
The City Corporation has fully explored the option of refurbishing Mais House. The existing Mais House building currently provides 63 homes with a total of 65 bed spaces. The current footprint and floor plates totals 3,550sqm, which if refurbished as to modern housing standards would deliver approximately 40 one-bedroom homes. To meet the need for affordable homes, the City Corporation has a duty to maximise the number of homes for social rent including a mix of unit sizes.
Who will the new homes be for?
100% of the homes will be for social rent. 50% (55 homes) of these will be for the City of London and 50% (55 homes) for London Borough of Lewisham. All social rented homes on the estate will be managed by the City Corporation. The new homes will be a mix of 1, 2, 3 and 4-bedroom homes. If all homes are fully occupied there will be an additional 356 people.
A Local Lettings policy will be in place: Link
Will I be able to move into one of the new homes?
Our aspirations are to try and provide fit-for-purpose new accommodation for existing residents from Sydenham Hill Estate who may need to transfer for reasons such as overcrowding or mobility issues. The City Corporation will make provision for existing tenants at Lammas Green or Otto Close to relocate to new homes, if it better suits their housing needs. The London Borough of Lewisham is eligible for 50% nomination rights.
The Existing Estate
What is the history of the estate?
Until the post-war period the architectural character of the area was defined by large detached mansions built on the ridge of Sydenham Hill. With the exception of the Victorian terraced housing to the south of the estate, this pattern remained largely unchanged until after the Second World War. Post-war, the City Corporation began developing social housing in the area starting with Lammas Green followed by Otto Close and Mais House.
Lammas Green was developed in the 1950s and is built around a large central green, with benches and mature trees. The adjacent Otto Close, a more recent development, was built in the early 1970s and consists of 30 three and four-bedroom flats and maisonettes.
Mais House was built in 1973 and provided sheltered accommodation for over 40 years until it was deemed no longer fit for purpose and residents were moved to alternative homes earlier in the year. Neighbouring the estate is Castlebar, now known as Castlebar care homes.
The estate is located within the Sydenham Hill Conservation Area. Lammas Green as well as the Sydenham Hill Community Hall and its retaining walls are Grade II listed and sit in the Sydenham Hill Kirkdale Conservation Area.
Full consideration of the heritage context, including the conservation, statutory and locally listed buildings has been given in the design, scale and layout of the proposals.
What’s happening with the window replacement programme?
Please email DCCS-MajorWorksTeam@cityoflondon.gov.uk who will be able to advise on further information about this project.
Why is the alleyway that runs behind Otto Close being removed?
The current pedestrian route will not be removed. It will be relocated up onto Otto Close to run in front of the new homes. Pedestrians will benefit from improved access and surveillance. This new pedestrian route will start and end at the same points on Lammas Green and Kirkdale.
How will the new homes affect our service charge?
The service charge is split into two charges, a maintenance charge, which is paid block-by-block, and an estate-wide service charge. The maintenance charge will only be paid by residents of each block, so existing residents will not be paying for maintenance in the new blocks on the estate. The estate-wide service charge may be affected by the proposed new homes, but this may not necessarily increase.
How can we keep the community spirit of the estate?
We want the estate to continue to have a strong, welcoming community spirit. A new community room is included alongside new landscaping and play space.
The project will be completed in phases, which will allow for the community to grow steadily over time.
The Proposals
How tall will the buildings be?
The existing Mais House building is part three, part four storeys.
Building A, B, C on the Mais House part of the estate will provide a part four, six and seven storeys building, which will occupy a similar footprint and layout to the existing Mais House building and comprises of three interlinked buildings.
Building A nearest to Lammas Green and occupying the north western part of the Sydenham Hill frontage comprises of four storeys, including a community room at ground floor level and is set further away from Lammas Green properties than the existing building. Building A is then linked via a double height internal entrance lobby to Building B, which extends to six and seven storeys.
The height of Building B is stepped up from the Sydenham Hill frontage with the part nearest the road being six storeys and the tallest seven storey section set back within the central part of the block. The ground floor of Building B includes communal space, store and estate facilities.
Building C extends to four storeys.
The Otto Close garages will be redeveloped to provide a part two and three storey terrace block with 11 houses. A stepped height is required to address the amenities, including daylight sunlight consideration of properties at Rose Court to the east.
Why can't you reduce the height?
The City Corporation has contributed a considerable amount of time, effort and finances into the Sydenham Hill proposals, driven by a determination to create a unique development that satisfies both the City Corporation and London Borough of Lewisham. In order to achieve this, the City Corporation entered into a Planning Performance Agreement (PPA) with LBL and has undertaken numerous pre-application engagement meetings with Officers, the Lewisham DRP, residents and stakeholders over an 18 month period, which clearly demonstrates our firm commitment to getting it right.
There have been numerous iterations and revisions to the proposals in response to pre-application engagement with London Borough of Lewisham, which has seen a reduction in the number of new homes decreasing from 150 to 110, with the overall estimated development costs increasing as a result. The negative impact of reducing the current number of new homes further will push the project over an acceptable deliverable value in terms of cost per home.
The current scheme will deliver 110 new homes for social rent with London Borough of Lewisham receiving nomination rights for 55 of these homes. The current split of new homes between the City Corporation and LBL is 50/50 (55 new homes each), which we understand is significantly beneficial to Lewisham given the current high demand for social housing.
It should also be recognised that reducing the scale of Block B and the terrace block would reduce the number of larger/ family units provided with the overall unit mix. London Borough of Lewisham has advised that its greatest housing need is for larger family units and a reduction in the number of units within Block B and the terrace would impact on the delivery of new housing to meet existing borough housing needs.
What biodiversity measures are you including?
The plans have been ecologically designed to retain, enhance and create habitats suitable to support a wide variety of species diversity and will support a biodiversity net gain.
New trees will be planted to replace those removed at a ratio of two to one to increase the estate’s natural character. New tree planting adds to the existing collection of fine trees as specimens in the lawns and also adds to boundary tree groups. Tree selections provide a diverse range of species, selected for form, colour, wildlife benefit and climate change resilience.
Trees will create a robust tree population for benefit over the next 20, 50 and 100 years.
What playspace is provided for children?
While the proposals provide for younger children’s playspace, it does not include a larger play space or Multi Use Games Area (MUGA) for older children as there was no resident support for a larger play space on the estate during pre-application discussions. Residents considered that a larger play area would impact on the open green character and trees within the existing space, encourage non-residents to use the facilities and potentially increase noise disturbance from ball games and more users. Their preference was to utilise the existing ballcourt and to make use of alternative provision in the local area.
What are the parking proposals?
There is a total of 30 parking spaces proposed at surface level for building A, B and C. Seven of these spaces will be provided as disabled parking bays.
At Otto Close, there will be a total of 25 parking spaces. This comprises 10 existing parking spaces to the north of Otto Close (retained as existing), 10 spaces provided beneath the re-configured ballcourt as well as five on-street spaces opposite the proposed terrace houses.
Electric car charging provision will be provided in accordance with Draft London Plan Standards with 20% active provision from the outset and 80% passive provision.
195 cycle parking spaces will also be provided.