John Lewis allowed to build homes for first time

John Lewis has got the green light to build homes in a ground-breaking first for the department store chain.

Bromley Council approved the plans for a block of 353 rental flats above an existing Waitrose shop in the London borough on Thursday.

"This now gives us the opportunity to enhance the local area," said John Lewis director Katherine Russell.

It is a milestone for the company, which has been trying to get permission to develop housing for years and still faces significant opposition from some locals to the scheme.

John Lewis said the "energy efficient" flats in the 24-storey block would include a mix of one to three bedroom units. The existing Waitrose will be renovated.

It added that it had received 147 letters supporting the scheme, more than the number which opposed it.

However, campaigners complained that less than one tenth of the homes would be classed as 'affordable'.

This means that the rental rates for those homes will be set at 80% of market value. The rest will be rented out at market value.

Local Liberal Democrat councillor Julie Ireland called the amount of affordable homes in the development "frankly derisory".

Both Bromley Council and the London Mayor's office say that 35% of housing in all new developments should be affordable.

Ms Ireland also criticised the John Lewis scheme's height and said extra residents would worsen road traffic and clog up the train network.

John Lewis has said council tax and "local spend" will increase by £70m in the development's first decade.

Investment firm abrdn, which is working with John Lewis on the development, said the housing would be "an anchor for town centre regeneration and wider community investment".

Eventually, John Lewis and abrdn plan to build 1,000 new homes across three sites, including the Bromley one.

John Lewis first revealed plans to start building homes in 2020 under its former boss Dame Sharon White to diversify its revenue.