A 35-storey tower with 490 co-living units has been given the go-ahead in Hackney, despite objections over its scale, loss of daylight and lack of affordable housing.
Hackney Council’s Planning Committee approved the Finsgate House scheme, which also includes a five-storey office building, on 11 November 2026 after a lengthy debate. The application had attracted objections from local residents and groups.
The key deciding factor was a £18.2 million payment in lieu towards affordable housing, which is expected to fund between 40 and 100 social rent units elsewhere in the borough. Officers deemed this a substantial public benefit that outweighed concerns about the loss of conventional C3 housing on the site.
The existing office buildings at Finsgate House on Cranwood Street will be demolished to make way for the development, which also includes significant internal and external communal amenity spaces and extensive cycle parking.
Work is expected to take 55 months in total. That includes a 12-month pre-construction period, six months of demolition and 37 months of construction.
Concerns were raised at the meeting about the tower’s impact on neighbouring residents, particularly loss of daylight and a sense of enclosure. Officers acknowledged some harm but concluded that the scheme’s benefits, including the affordable housing contribution and the provision of high-quality co-living accommodation, outweighed these impacts.
The scheme’s environmental credentials also came under scrutiny. It aims for net-zero operational carbon, but the co-living units achieve only a 23% carbon reduction against a 35% target. Officers noted that the office component meets the 35% target and that renewable technologies have been incorporated.
On heritage, officers concluded that the impact on nearby conservation areas and listed buildings would be very low to low, mainly because of views of the new tower. The tower will be clad in red brick to echo the character of the surrounding area, while the office building reflects the buff colours of the adjacent housing estate.
Highways officers highlighted the lack of on-site blue badge parking as a significant detriment. The council’s Highways Team expects a minimum of 3% blue badge parking for residential use and one space for non-residential use. However, the council acknowledged the site’s constraints and its excellent public transport accessibility as mitigating factors.
The planning committee granted conditional planning permission for the Finsgate House development, subject to a legal agreement and a Stage 2 referral to the Greater London Authority.
The final vote was 3 in favour, 0 against and 4 abstaining.
