Huge plans for a 365-flat and workspace development in Lewisham town centre have been blocked by City Hall.

The Conington Road development, which includes eight, 14 and 34-storey towers, was approved by Lewisham Council’s strategic development committee in December by four votes to three.

But in a letter, London’s deputy mayor for planning, skills and regeneration Jules Pipe said the level of affordable housing in the development on the Tesco car park was “wholly unacceptable.”

This is because only 24 per cent of the homes would be “affordable”, which would drop to 20 per cent if the application was not approved before March 30.

Lewisham Council has a strategic target of 50 per cent affordable housing on all developments.

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Greater London Authority officers raised concerns over why the scheme was being put forward or how it would be funded, since Meyer Homes’ own financial reports found the scheme “generates a significant financial deficit.”

“On this basis the scheme would not be deliverable and it is not clear why the applicant would bring forward the scheme or how this could be financed,” they said.

Meyer Homes had over-estimated the cost to build the scheme, impacting the number of affordable homes it could build, according to their report.

And Lewisham’s agreement with Meyer Homes to review the scheme’s profit once it began building through a section 106 agreement was also criticised for being inadequate.

“GLA officers consider that the applicant’s build costs are significantly overstated due to the over-estimation of the costs of a range of elements and the inclusion of design fees that are duplicated elsewhere in the applicant’s appraisals.

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“Given the low level of affordable housing proposed and the significant length of the development programme the use of robust mechanisms is essential in order to reassess viability of the scheme and determine whether additional affordable housing could be supported,” the report outlined.

A previous application for the Meyer Homes scheme was rejected in April, with the developer appealing the council’s decision and submitting a new, almost-identical application which was then approved.

The approved application had improved access to the proposed Skydeck on the tallest building,

A petition against the development received more than 1,200 signatures.