‘Buy-to-let king’ revises plans for Haringey micro-flats

A billionaire who was refused approval to turn Haringey Council offices into 219 micro-flats has submitted revised plans in a second attempt. Andreas Panayiotou (pictured), dubbed London’s “buy-to-let king”, has lodged plans to turn the offices at Alexandra House into 171 residential units via his development company Ability Developments. Haringey rejected the first request for permitted development rights change of use from office to residential in December as the proposed scheme did not give sufficient detail on the flats and PDR was exempt as it included a car park and office. The previous plans received 84 objections, with a particular concern raised over the size of the units and one local architect branding the scheme a “human warehouse not fit for anyone”. New plans propose the bulk of flats at 26 sq m (280 sq ft) with up to 17 flats on a single floor, compared to previous plans with 27 flats on a floor, where the size was not specified. It also excludes the lower car park and office space. In the application, Ability Developments argues that developers have no requirement to provide details of the internal layout and that the local authority’s decision should not be in relation to the size of homes, but rather the impact on highways, flood risk, contamination and commercial surroundings. Julia Park, head of housing research at Levitt Bernstein and housing standards campaigner, said: “It is still far short of the standard that any London council would accept from a new scheme, where they would also expect a range of different apartment sizes and some private and shared outdoor amenity space. “While the developer is probably technically right to say that the council has no legitimate grounds for refusal, that doesn’t make it good enough. Other precedents have revealed that councils can’t even refuse homes of 10 sq m, which is why this form of permitted development rights has failed.” Consultation on the new plans will run until 20 February, with a decision date required by 20 March. Ability Developments declined to comment. To send feedback, e-mail emma.rosser@egi.co.uk or tweet @EmmaARosser or @estatesgazette Picture © Shutterstock