A Tory Lord Advises the Battersea Developers Breaking Their Affordable Homes Promise

A development company that is rowing back on a promise to build affordable homes in London is advised by a Tory Lord and former Cabinet Minster in David Cameron's government, VICE can reveal.

Last week it emerged that the £9 billion luxury estate development around the former Battersea Power Station is cutting the number of guaranteed "affordable" homes by 40 percent, from 636 to 386.

Lord Strathclyde – or Thomas Galloway Dunlop du Roy de Blicquy Galbraith, to give him his full title – is a former Tory Cabinet Minister and a "Senior Adviser" to the Battersea Power Development Company. The company is building flats that can cost from £800,000 for a studio to £4 million for a three-bed property.

The "affordable" properties in the Battersea Power Station development are planned to be let at on average 60 percent of market rates. The Battersea Power Station Development Company has put in a "deed of variation" with Wandsworth Council, which is in charge of planning permission for the development. If accepted, this will reduce the number of guaranteed "affordable" properties. The company claims that the development will become unviable if it has to build as many affordable homes as it originally committed to in 2011 when construction costs were lower.

The company says that it is finishing the 386 "affordable" flats ahead of schedule, and that it is "focused on" building a full 636 "affordable" units if this proves "viable" at the end of the scheme.

Since the reduction was revealed by the Evening Standard, the decision has unsurprisingly attracted criticism. The Grenfell fire and the difficulties re-housing the survivors has highlighted once again the housing crisis in the capital, and added to existing concerns about affordable rented housing.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan announced he was "extremely concerned" at Battersea's plans, and said he had "sought advice on to how to stop this happening. We need more affordable housing not less".

The Battersea Power Station Development Company represents mostly Malaysian developers, but they do have a UK face. Since 2013, Lord Strathclyde has been a "Senior Adviser" to the Company.

Thomas Galloway Dunlop du Roy de Blicquy Galbraith is the 2nd Baron Strathclyde. He sits in the House of Lords as a Conservative. Until 2013 he was a Cabinet Minister in David Cameron's government. He resigned to take up a series of lucrative business appointments, including the Battersea job.

Lord Strathclyde remains an influential figure in Conservative circles. As well as sitting in the Lords, Strathclyde is the Chairman of the Carlton Club – the luxury central London club where Conservative-oriented members can dine or even stay in traditional, grand surroundings. Theresa May and some of her ministers, including Liam Fox, get honorary membership of the Carlton Club. It is one of the longest running Conservative institutions.

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The Battersea Power Station Development Company told VICE that Lord Strathclyde doesn't have a role in financial decision-making powers, and does not represent the company in talks with government. The company said that Lord Strathclyde "chairs the Battersea Power Station Foundation and the Battersea Power Station Advisory board".

The Battersea Power Station Foundation is the developer's charity, which gives out grants for community projects. The Foundation says: "We support projects that bring people together around shared goals to transform neighbourhoods."

While the charity typically gives out grants at £5,000 a time, the developer itself appears to be transforming the neighbourhood by building masses of luxury flats while reducing the number of affordable homes.

@SolHughesWriter

Correction: This article previously stated that "The "affordable" properties in the Battersea Power Station development are planned to be let at up to 80 percent of market rates. In fact they will be let at 60 percent of market rates on average. This has been corrected.