|
|
 |
| |
 An artists' impression of the home |
Key worker ‘rabbit hutches’ green light
Hotel-room sized homes are given the go ahead
CONTROVERSIAL key worker homes – dubbed ‘rabbit hutches’ by critics and likened to ‘hotel rooms’ by experts due to their petite living area – have been given the go-ahead.
A planning inspector has ruled that key workers have the choice over whether or not to take the new homes.
Developers Pocket Living plan to build a block of 22 small bedsits and one-bedroom flats on the site of disused garage in Weedington Road, Gospel Oak.
Key workers such as nurses and teachers will be offered the homes first. The designs were criticised at the Town Hall for being too small and the proposals were thrown out by a committee of councillors in February. That decision had now been overturned.
At just 25 square metres, the proposed studio flats were 78 per cent below recommended sizes.
Opponent Val Stevenson, a journalist who lives near the site, said: “It is about whether Camden values its key worker or it doesn’t. If it values them, don’t shove them into rabbit hutches.”
But planning inspector Susan Hesketh has now ruled that living in such small homes, which she likened to a hotel room, would be key workers’ own choice.
She ruled that some would welcome the chance to own a property – however small it is.
Ms Hesketh said: “The four studio units are very small and the residential accommodation would be similar to many hotel rooms. People not wanting such limited accommodation would choose not to purchase a unit in this development.
“On the other hand, the space might be perfectly adequate for some and could be fitted out to accommodate basic living requirements for a single person.”
The inspector said that the designs were of good quality and was a good plan for a “difficult site”.
The planning application had caused ripples of protest at the council.
Ms Hesketh said: “As the one-bedroom flats could accommodate a double bed they could be occupied by a couple.
“Whether a single person or a couple purchased one of these units would be a matter of choice and being able to purchase a home and get a foot on the ‘property ladder’ might be more important than larger room sizes.”
Liberal Democrat councillor Flick Rea said at the time: “I don’t see why a key worker, a nurse, should be forced to live in a tiny space with barely no window.”
A spokesman for Pocket Living said that when people saw the flats there would be no worries about size.
He said: “We have letters of support from police, the health authority and the fire service. We are pleased with the decision and we will go ahead with the scheme. It is difficult to imagine them without seeing them but they are lovely and people are happy to buy them.”
He added that homes would cost around £149,000 – far cheaper than similar properties in the area.
|
 |
|
|
|
