To build, or not to build? It is the city’s eternal question. Despite the government’s pledge to “unlock” derelict or empty sites (‘Brownfield’) and accelerate new developments, the past year has yet to see as many housing developments take off in London as hoped – with Mayor Sadiq Khan already set to miss his targets.
For inner north London, though boroughs like Camden and Islington have “ambitious” housebuilding goals, progress has been mixed. This year the former hit a post-pandemic housebuilding high with 582 new homes built since 2023, according to government figures – though there have been doubts over how affordable these will be.
Islington, meanwhile, had to abandon major plans for hundreds of new council homes in April, citing inflation, global trade tariffs but also local concerns about the loss of football pitches. But north Londoners can still watch out for a slate of projects that did get the green light this year, such as a new lab-enabled space in a landmark skyscraper, an historic art deco theatre revamp, and hundreds of new homes.
1. Lab spaces at Euston Tower
The former heart of Capital Radio in Euston in the 1970s, Euston Tower had stood empty for four years before Camden Council in March rubber-stamped a £600m scheme to partially demolish it. The 400ft skyscraper is now set to be transformed into commercial spaces for “world-class science and technology”, in the words of developer British Land.
“Euston Tower will be a blueprint for sustainable development, delivering an all-electric building fit for the future,” the company said. Climate activists objected to the plans which did not meet the borough’s “aspirational” carbon targets, since the lab-enabled spaces would use more energy than standard offices.
Others said the 36-storey tower – due to shrink by four floors – would spoil the views from Kensington Gardens and Primrose Hill, but the council ruled that the harm was limited and was outweighed the public benefits of a revamped commercial tower.
2. Islington estate expands with 54 new homes
Despite the borough’s major U-turn over the Finsbury Park leisure centre project, tipped to deliver roughly 100 new social homes and 100 flats for sale, Islington Council has stepped forward with plans to pad out its existing 1970s-era Bemerton Estate. Four more blocks at varying heights will add 54 new homes to the site, with its courtyard revamped into a green “woodland” area equipped with food-growing facilities, a kids playing space and scores more trees.
Half of the new properties have been classed as ‘affordable’, with 23 units at social rent with 4 at shared ownership – though local politicians have cast doubt on just how cost-effective this will be.
The redevelopment will also add more retail and commercial floorspace, along with a new “small public square” on the corner and new cycle parking.
In 2021 the council initially sought planning permission for 84 new dwellings at the site, but this was pared back due after the government added new regulations for staircases in residential buildings over 18m. The project will also see the estate’s garage building demolished, forcing the council to move the ball games court that right now sits on the roof.
3. Hundreds more homes and student flats in Camden Town
Camden signed off on schemes for a total 442 new homes at sites in Hampstead and Camden Town. After full permission was granted for a 24-storey tower block in Swiss Cottage last year, in June the council’s planning committee approved updated plans for 53 more homes, with 35 per cent designated ‘affordable’. Developer Regal London says the new additions will connect Hampstead Theatre to Swiss Cottage Library through a ‘central art route’.
Meanwhile, in Camden Town the council gave permission for a joint venture from Regal and 4C Group to demolish existing buildings and build two six-storeys blocks containing 178 more student flats with wellbeing and study areas. These will be joined by another 27 ‘affordable’ homes including three family-sized maisonettes and 3,600 sq. ft of commercial floorspace.
Developers said the blocks will “sensitively wrap around” a historic Victorian-era buildings sandwiched between the new blocks, while creating a “lush woodland-inspired courtyard”.
4. Regeneration for ‘historic’ St John Street
The thoroughfare linking Farringdon with Smithfield market in Clerkenwell is due for a council makeover, “paying homage” to its historic past as a “bustling gateway into London”, in the words of Islington Town Hall.
Islington wants to cut traffic from the area’s surrounding streets by restricting cars and other motor vehicles entering from Charterhouse Street. This will serve the borough’s aims to create a “safer more child-friendly environment for walking and wheeling”, with a new cycle track and loading bay installed too.
Approved by the Town Hall in May, the revamp will also add tributes to the area’s historic landmarks like Hicks Hall. This ageing, de-commissioned criminal court was notably where several jurists were tried during the restoration for signing the warrant for King Charles I.
The old courthouse is also the spot used to measure distances to and from London itself, known as a ‘datum point’ – which the refurbishment will also give a nod to.
5. Grade-II listed West End theatre transformed into hotel with Cirque du Soleil in basement
At the end of April Camden Council reignited a feud around the borough’s local heritage when it approved plans to rebuild the Grade-II listed Saville Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue. From the 1970s until last year the building housed Odeon Covent Garden, but landlord Yoo Capital refused the four-screen cinema’s licence renewal after purchasing the site in 2021. It is now set to turn the site into a 220-bedroom hotel.
The new proposals include a six-storey roof extension and a basement stage which will be used by the international circus troupe, Cirque du Soleil. The works will involve a partial demolition of the structure and more than triple the existing floorspace.
Camden Council backed the plans, supported by City Hall, in the face of hundreds of objections – including from Historic England – over fears the nearly century-old establishment would become “just another hotel”. But the landlord will have to £4.2m towards the borough’s affordable housing fund as part of the scheme.
Josef Steen is a London-based journalist and Local Democracy Reporter covering Hackney, Camden and Islington.
