John Lewis faces local opposition over rental homes plan

John Lewis is facing fresh opposition from local residents over its plans to build hundreds of rental homes in a leafy suburb of London.

Stop The Towers, a campaign group that supports residents in West Ealing, complained to Ealing council leader Peter Mason about the height of some proposed buildings — up to 20 storeys against a maximum of 13 that is allowed in the area, they claim.

The employee-owned retailer, which intends to develop and rent out 10,000 homes in the next 10 years, was accused by the group of “ignoring local community sentiment in a way that is totally at odds with the genial public persona it attempts to portray”.

STT criticised plans to demolish a Waitrose supermarket that is less than 18 years old to make room for the development, a decision it argues is incompatible with “sustainability best practice”.

They also berated John Lewis for submitting its planning application at “the height of the summer holiday period” when locals would be unable to review and respond to it by an August 31 deadline.

Another point of contention is the group’s commitment to only build 20 per cent affordable housing in West Ealing if additional funding from Greater London Authority grants is not available despite the retailer’s ambitions for 35 per cent of the homes to be classed as affordable.

The average proportion of affordable housing in new homes developed in England in 2022 was 11.4 per cent, according to official data John Lewis cited in June.

The group previously held public consultations on its plans.

John Lewis said that its project would deliver “much-needed homes for the local area” and affordable housing amid a housing crisis. “This is an ongoing process where we’ve been working closely with a range of stakeholders and will continue to do so while the application is considered,” it added.

“The plans have been submitted to Ealing and the local authority will now consider the application in line with all relevant planning policies. We are confident that Ealing will welcome feedback from local residents between now and determination of the application as has always been the case with other major applications in the borough.”

Locals in West Ealing would be more amenable to a 13-storey building, an STT representative said.

Residents’ consternation follows a similar backlash in Bromley in south east London, over plans to erect 353 new homes, also over the height of buildings and affordability.

John Lewis, which also owns Waitrose, is seeking to make 40 per cent of profits from outside of retail by 2030.

Despite the recent opposition, it said in June that it was pushing ahead with plans to build almost 800 new homes in the capital, while initial plans for a development in Reading will be introduced later this year.