Wandsworth Council's Planning Applications Committee has refused a proposal to reduce the amount of affordable housing in the Springfield Hospital redevelopment project.
The committee met on Thursday 25 September 2025, to discuss an application concerning the Main Hospital Building (Phase 6C) at Springfield Hospital. The application sought to amend planning permission ref 2021/4679 to reduce the number of affordable housing units from five to zero, offering a payment in lieu instead. The applicant stated that updated financial viability evidence shows the development results in a significant financial deficit and as such the development is unable to support any affordable housing.
The Head of Development Management (Wandsworth) recommended that planning permission be refused because the proposed development fails to provide or justify an appropriate level of affordable housing delivery, contrary to the policy LP23 of the Local Plan (adopted July 2023) and policy H4 of the London Plan (adopted 2021) and the objectives of the National Planning Policy Framework.
The Director of Housing (Strategy, Compliance and Enabling) also did not support the amendments to the scheme. The committee voted 5 to 4 to refuse planning permission.
The report pack stated that the applicants had offered a Payment in Lieu of £700,000, but that officers did not consider this to be acceptable. The Council's independent viability consultants calculated that the appropriate Payment in Lieu (PiL) would be £1,268,626, significantly more than the applicant's offer. The report from the Head of Development Management (Wandsworth) provides further details on the application.
The proposed amendment also included a change to the residential mix, reducing two-bedroom apartments by two and increasing three-bedroom apartments by two. This aspect of the application did not raise concerns.
The agenda frontsheet and reports pack for the meeting are available online.
