A government announcement in August 2023 proposed an introduction of additional safety regulations for new residential buildings which has meant we have had to put a hold on the estate transformation pending further information about the new requirements.

The regulations will bring in a key change that  requires the inclusion of an additional staircase in the design of buildings over seven storeys. This will apply to most of the new buildings on the estate and therefore will require a change to the planning approval we received in March 23. Introducing a second staircase to the buildings will affect the number and/or size of homes we can build and we will be liaising with Islington planners to see how we can best achieve the changes once the government issue the guidance about the new regulations.

There are transitional arrangements that permit schemes with planning permission to proceed under the existing permission so we are exploring the possibility of starting Phase 1a to minimise the delay to the whole development.

We hope to be able to provide an update early next year. In the meantime more details can be found in our recent letter.