Plans to redevelop a disused site in North West London, to provide over 800 new homes, with over 40% affordable properties, which was rejected by the borough council is to go ahead. The Mayor of London called in the application for Pentavia Retail Park in Mill Hill after Barnet Council rejected it because members of its planning committee felt the scheme was an over development of the site and would not provide enough affordable homes.

The original application included 724 homes, of which 35% were to be affordable. Now, following the Mayor’s intervention, the number of homes has been increased by 120 to 844 and the level of affordable has been increased to 41%, including those social rent and London Living Rent levels.

Barnet delivered just 7,670 homes and only 1,645 affordable homes between 2012 and 2017, which was well below the targets set out in the London Plan, the capital’s planning bible. Between 2014 and 2017, just 9% of the homes given planning permission in Barnet were affordable.

The scheme approved by the Mayor will provide more affordable homes than were delivered across the whole of Barnet in the year 2017/2018.