John Lewis to appeal to council over proposals for 428 rental homes

The John Lewis Partnership is to appeal to secure a decision by a local council over proposals to build new rental homes.

The employee-owned business said it is appealing to Ealing Council on the grounds of “non-determination” after submitting plans for its development almost a year ago.

It is seeking to build 428 homes above its Waitrose store in West Ealing as part of the retail group’s expansion into property in an effort to diversity its operations.

The appeal is now due to be assessed by a planning inspector.

The proposed homes are near to West Ealing Crossrail station and include 83 affordable rental homes.

However, the firm has come under fire from a group of Ealing residents – called Stop the Towers – which has urged the council to reject the plans.

JLP aims to start work on the site next year and hope to complete by 2029.

Katherine Russell, director of build-to-rent at JLP, said: “We have taken the decision to appeal for non-determination of our planning application to build new rental homes nearly one year on from first submitting it to Ealing Council.

“Our proposals will create hundreds of homes at a time when all political parties agree there’s a desperate need for more housing and local investment to spur economic growth, with a priority on brownfield land.

“An appeal is not something we take lightly, however, we believe we have strong grounds to be successful given the opportunity to transform an under-used brownfield site close to the publicly-funded Crossrail station with new homes and investment that will benefit the wider community.”

The development plans were linked to a £500 million investment deal with Abrdn to build around 1,000 residential rental homes, which also includes a development in Bromley.

James Dunne, head of operational real estate at Abrdn, said: “We remain fully committed to our strategy of creating thousands of critically needed quality rental homes alongside John Lewis Partnership and look forward to the outcome of the ongoing due process in West Ealing.”