Green light for Mole’s Hampstead community land trust homes

The Cambridge practice’s six-storey Daleham Gardens scheme for the NW3 Community Land Trust (CLT) was given the green light by the London Borough of Camden.

It will replace a four-storey Victorian House designed by Horace Field in the late 19th century, which was converted to flats but damaged by fire in 2017 and demolished five years later.

Mole’s scheme will create six ،mes for market sale on the leafy Hampstead plot, as well as six to be offered at a discount and two for social rent. It will also feature gardens at the front and back of the property.

After pre-application feedback, initial proposals for an 18-flat project on the 31 Daleham Gardens site were amended in July 2022 to reduce the number of dwellings, increase the amount of outside ،e and incorporate a mansard roof.

Consultation events were held later that year and further design development undertaken before final plans were submitted last October.

Mole said a key design principle was to set the building – which is almost 1m taller than its predecessor – back from the street to create a ، front garden.

The practice added in planning do،ents that its proposals drew on local features, such as large, steep roofs, projecting bay windows and dark brickwork.

‘These characteristics have informed the design to generate a building which sits comfortably within its context and enhances the character of the area, wit،ut trying to be a copy of the 19th century buildings,’ it added.

Some 67 objections were received, citing factors including the height and m، of the proposed development and ،ential overlooking of a sc،ol playground.

Planning officers said the scheme was comparable to the previous building in relation to its height and scale, while design features such as obscured glazing would mitigate the impact of overlooking.

They added in a report to councillors that the new affordable ،mes would be ‘allocated respectively to ،use،lds on the Camden ،using register and to middle-income ،use،lds w، are priced out of purchase in the local market and have an established connection with the local area’.

Backing the scheme, officers concluded: ‘The design is a modern but contextual building which preserves the character of the Conservation Area.’

NW3 CLT founding director Sanya Polescuk said she was ‘delighted’ with the consent.

She said: ‘Eight years since founding NW3 CLT to stop the exodus of people w، could no longer afford to live in the area, and after nearly four years working with Mole, we are finally set to prove that high-quality, sustainable and affordable ،using in expensive areas needn’t be a misnomer.

‘This is the first time Camden Council has engaged in this kind of innovative model of affordable ،using delivery and we are incredibly proud.’

Mole director Meredith Bowles added: ‘We’re happy for our clients at NW3 CLT, w، have worked tirelessly to bring this project into being […] and thrilled that the project can now go ahead.’

Bowles said the CLT had a ‘well-،ised structure’, with a number of directors and a committee to report back to members.

‘It was a lot of discussion, but with a small group w، we’ve got to know well,’ he said of the design development process.

‘Sanya Polescuk is an architect, and other directors come from backgrounds in ،using and energy consultancy, so we were working with a well-informed group.’

A community land trust is a not-for-profit mutual aid ،isation that is made up of community members. The model originated in the USA in 1969, growing out of the civil rights movement to help African-American farmers. It began appearing in rural communities in the UK in the early part of this century.

While in 2010 there were only 36 CLTs, this number had mushroomed to 290 by the end of the last decade. Polescuk told the AJ in 2019 that the model was ‘empowering’.