How Jenrick decision on housing ‘gave Tory donor extra £106m’

ROBERT Jenrick was last night accused of saving a Tory donor £106million by letting him slash the proportion of affordable homes in a controversial development.

The Housing Secretary has been embroiled in a ‘cash for favours’ row over his approval of Richard Desmond’s £1billion project.

Mr Jenrick overruled the local council and planning inspector to give the go-ahead in January, two months after he sat on the same table as the billionaire businessman at a Tory fundraising dinner. Two weeks later, the tycoon donated £12,000 to the Conservative Party.

This week Mr Jenrick admitted he knew he was saving Mr Desmond between £30million and £50million by making the decision to grant planning permission one day before a new community levy came in.

But last night the row intensified as documents revealed he had waved the scheme through despite concerns its developer had failed to provide enough affordable homes.

Mr Desmond, who previously owned the Daily Express and Daily Star newspapers, wants to redevelop the site of the former Westferry printworks on the Isle of Dogs in east London. He has applied for permission to build five towers including around 1,500 homes. In March last year he pledged 35 per cent of the accommodation would be affordable housing, the minimum required by a large development in the borough of Tower Hamlets.

But weeks after the application was called in by the Housing Secretary last April, he made a last-minute change to slash the proportion of affordable housing to just 21 per cent. He claimed this was necessary for the development to be viable.

Councillors challenged this as part of an inquiry by the Planning Inspectorate, submitting evidence the scheme would generate returns of more than £111million – even if it included the higher 35 per cent.

A planning inspector concluded it was ‘likely that the scheme could provide more affordable housing than the offer of 21 per cent’ and therefore would not provide ‘the maximum reasonable amount’ of affordable homes. He recommended the application be refused – but Mr Jenrick overruled him. Tower Hamlets council estimated the reduction in affordable homes would have meant an extra £106million in revenue for the developer.

Mr Jenrick then quashed his approval following a High Court challenge by Tower Hamlets, accepting his original decision was ‘unlawful by reason of apparent bias’.

Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill is reviewing the matter. A spokesman for Mr Jenrick last night said the scheme ‘would have more than doubled the number of affordable homes’ compared to a previous smaller development Mr Desmond was granted planning permission for on the site in 2016. He would not comment further on a live case.

‘Overruled the planning inspector’