Affordable housing reduced in latest Eileen House skyscraper plan

The redevelopment of Eileen House near Elephant & Castle has moved very slowly through the planning system with the fourth anniversary of the original planning application fast approaching.

The proposal has been fiercely opposed by the Ministry of Sound which claims that its Gaunt Street nightclub will be forced to shut if the neighbourhood becomes residential.

The case is now in the hands of Mayor of London Boris Johnson and just before Christmas City Hall announced that a public hearing will be held on Tuesday 26 February.

Now the Mayor has launched a further period of public consultation before he takes the final decision.

The scheme is largely unchanged from the proposal rejected by Southwark councillors in October 2011 apart from one key detail – the number of affordable homes in the tower has dropped from 80 to 65.

All 65 proposed affordable homes will be in the shared ownership category. None of the 335 homes in the scheme will be for social rent.

Oakmayne and its agents say that the reduction in affordable housing is necessary to offset the extra payments it will now be expected to make to fund transport improvements at the Elephant & Castle and the Mayor's community infrastructure levy for Crossrail.

• For details of the consultation period, which runs until 7 February, see www.london.gov.uk/consultation/eileen-house