Affordable homes kicked out of Spurs' stadium plans

Published by Jon Land for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Local Government

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club may no longer be required to provide any affordable homes as part of its plans for a new stadium development in north London.

And Haringey Council, which is desperate to keep the Premier League club in the borough, may also waive a £16 million payment from Spurs originally earmarked to benefit the wider Tottenham community.

A report to the council's planning committee recommends a series of amendments to the existing Section 106 agreement for the £400 million Northumberland Development Project, which includes plans for a new 56,250 capacity stadium.

Under the proposed changes, Tottenham would be relieved of a requirement to designate 50 percent of any new homes built as affordable - enabling them to be sold on the open market.

The club would also be allowed to extend the total number of homes from 200 to 285, helping to boost the commercial viability of the stadium project and the "tenure mix" of housing in the area, the report states.

The report adds, that in recent years, there had been "very little building of open market homes" in the Northumberland Park area with a focus on "intermediate and social rent" housing.

The report also recommends Haringey Council waive £16million-worth of contributions from Tottenham towards regeneration, education and economic development projects in the borough as laid out in the original Section 106 agreement.

Under the amended Section 106, the club would only need to provide £470,000 towards parking and environmental improvements in the Northumberland Park vicinity.

The recommendations follow an agreement, announced last month, that the council would contribute £9 million and the Mayor of London £18 million towards the wider regeneration of the area.

Haringey Council is due to consider the report at a meeting next week.

In a statement, Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, said: "The club is proud of its roots in Haringey, having been based in Tottenham for over 128 years. We are the borough’s top visitor attraction, with around 1m visitors a year and one of the largest employers, pumping many millions of pounds into the local economy and via business rates."

The club also confirmed that all new homes built will be fully compliant with the Government’s ‘Lifetime Home’ standards and meet Level 4 of the Code for Sustainable Homes.