Cleveland Street Workhouse, which inspired Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist

THE hospital charity trust that is trying to redevelop a former Fitzrovia workhouse that inspired Charles Dickens has told a planning hearing it is financially unviable to provide affordable housing in the scheme.

Representatives and lawyers from UCLH Charity, which is redeveloping the Cleveland Street workhouse, told a planning hearing on Wednesday that based on a viability study it is no longer cost-effective to fulfil a long-standing obligation to create 40 affordable homes.

UCLH Charity is arguing that the agreement about affordable housing made in 2004 does not in any case apply to them, as it is separate to UCLH Trust – who made the original deal.

Camden Council’s barrister, Morag Ellis KC said it was an “unusual” case.

Lawyers for the charity are seeking High Court help to overturn the agreement. Rebecca Clutton, representing UCLH Charity, said it was taking “a hit” by agreeing to create 17 in the scheme, but could not go any further.

Last year Camden Council rejected the charity’s bid to reduce the amount and said they should build the project in full with the full amount of affordable homes.

The charity – which wants to create 57 new units overall – said it is not affordable to do so because of increased costs.

It is also going to the High Court in a bid to get the legacy legal obligation overturned. Andy Smith, who works for viability consultants SQW, told the hearing: “The site and the scheme as appraised is unviable and provides a deficit. Applying the [viability] test the maximum amount of affordable housing is nil. Therefore we are going considerably beyond that position as a gesture of goodwill in line with its charitable aims, and it’s within its own discretion to do so.”

He added: “The debate isn’t about whether to provide the opportunity of affordable housing units from 30 down to 17, as 30 units it is demonstrably unviable and therefore undeliverable. The choice is whether [it is] 17 offered by the appellant … and the benefits that brings, or zero affordable housing is delivered and an alternative use for the site will have to be sought. If the appellant was a commercial developer, they would be offering zero with this scheme.”

The hearing at the Crowndale Centre heard that viability consultants from both Camden Council and UCLH Charity had both agreed that the project is not financially profitable.

UCLH Charity blamed rising building costs, but also archaeological work to exhume up to 10,000 bodies of people who died at the workhouse, or when it was an overflow burial ground for St Paul’s Covent Garden.

Historic England, in a letter to Camden Council said it was “regrettable” that archaeological costs were being blamed for a reduction in affordable homes.

It had previously been the Strand Union Workhouse in the 19th century and Dickens experts suggest the writer – who lived in the area – took inspiration when writing his famous novel, Oliver Twist.

Ms Clutton told planning inspector Gareth Thomas that the agreement in 2004, made as part of the redevelopment of the Euston Road area by UCLH Trust, was no longer valid, as it had been made by the parties to that previous agreement in 2004, when the site was owned by the University College London Hospital Trust.

“It is a completely separate point. The charity is wholly independent of that organisation. It is not fair to say that the appellant made that election. This is a point that has been raised by the council on a number of occasions,” she said.

“We are not trying to avoid our responsibilities. We were aware of the agreement at the time we sought to deliver the units, but we are now not in a position to do so.”

Professor Nick Bailey, secretary of the Fitzrovia West Neighbourhood Forum, said the charity was behaving like a developer, and making a loss was part of the “risk and reward gamble” involved with developing housing. A site visit is due to take place today (Thursday), with a decision following in the coming weeks.