Development Company Offers To Pay £43m CIL Charge

The development company owned by Richard Desmond has offered to pay a £43m Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) charge on the proposed Westferry Printworks development, after his initial application controversially escaped the levy. The High Court quashed the planning application for the development in May, after housing secretary Robert Jenrick admitted the decision to approve it one day before Tower Hamlets’ CIL charge was introduced in January showed “apparent bias”. Westferry Developments has refused to increase the quantum of affordable housing – a major point of contention in the initial application. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/richard-desmonds-development-company-offers-to-pay-43m-cil-charge-for-westferry-site-67720?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60

Allegation Jenrick Initially Hid Contact With Westferry Developer From Officials

Housing secretary Robert Jenrick is under continued pressure regarding his decision to approve a £1bn east London housing scheme, after a Sunday newspaper reported he overruled officials’ objections without revealing having had contact with the developer, a high-profile Tory party donor. The Sunday Times reported that officials “begged” Jenrick not to approve the 1,500-home Westferry Printworks scheme, despite not knowing that he had had dinner with the developer, billionaire media mogul Richard Desmond. Read more on Housing Today.

https://www.housingtoday.co.uk/news/allegation-jenrick-initially-hid-contact-with-westferry-developer-from-officials/5106728.article

Desmond Told Johnson Of His Housing Scheme Plans During Lunch In 2010

Boris Johnson has been drawn into the planning row that has embroiled his Housing Secretary after it emerged that Richard Desmond discussed the property scheme with the Prime Minister over lunch, when he was London mayor. Mr Desmond, a Conservative Party donor, hosted the lunch on 25 May 2010 in the boardroom of his firm Northern & Shell’s headquarters in London. He took the opportunity to raise his initial £500m plans for the Westferry printworks in East London with Mr Johnson while he was mayor and had oversight of major planning decisions in the capital. Read more on inews.

https://inews.co.uk/news/richard-desmond-boris-johnson-westferry-printworks-robert-jenrick-lunch-458004