This is absolutely staggering. Convenient timing for this to be brushed under the carpet
The housing secretary unlawfully approved a property development of a billionaire tycoon who once donated to the Conservative Party.
Robert Jenrick has accepted that he showed “apparent bias” when he gave the green light for Richard Desmond to build 1,500 homes in the Isle of Dogs, east London. The timing of the decision meant that the mogul avoided a £40 million bill over the scheme.
Mr Jenrick agreed that planning approval should be quashed after the council initiated legal action against him alleging that the timing showed bias. Mr Jenrick rubber-stamped the scheme against the advice of the government’s planning inspector.
The leader of the local Conservative group resigned over the decision and has called for an investigation.
Mr Desmond, 68, sold off the Daily Express and Daily Star two years ago. He has an estimated wealth of £2 billion, according to The Sunday Times Rich List. His company behind the development, Northern & Shell, donated £10,000 to the Conservative Party in 2017 and £1 million to Ukip in 2015.
Mr Jenrick was asked to decide whether to approve the £1 billion plans for Westferry Printworks after Tower Hamlets, the local authority, failed to reach a decision before its legal deadline.
The government’s planning inspector advised Mr Jenrick against approving the scheme because he said it would damage views of Tower Bridge and did not provide “the maximum reasonable amount of affordable housing”. Mr Jenrick argued that the inspector’s concerns were outweighed by the public benefits of the plans, including the overall provision of housing.
His decision in January was published the day before Tower Hamlets approved a new rate for its community infrastructure levy, which councils use to help fund infrastructure to support development in their areas. The new rate would have increased the developer’s financial liability by about £40 million, Tower Hamlets said.
The council initiated legal action against Mr Jenrick in March, alleging that the timing of the decision appeared to show bias. It asked the court to order the government to disclose all correspondence by Mr Jenrick and government officials on the decision, which it argued could show he was influenced by a desire to help the developer save money.
Faced with the prospect of handing over the correspondence, Mr Jenrick accepted that his decision letter was unlawful as it showed “apparent bias”. In pre-action correspondence, he confirmed that the decision letter was issued on January 14 so that it would be before the new infrastructure levy was adopted.
He conceded that the timing “would lead the fair-minded and informed observer to conclude that there was a real possibility” that he was “biased” in favour of the developer, according to a High Court consent order. He agreed that the planning application should be redetermined by a different minister.
Andrew Wood, 51, a Tower Hamlets councillor who resigned as leader of the local Conservative group after Mr Jenrick’s decision, said: “The reasons for the minister’s decision and his correspondence with the developer should be put in the public domain and investigated by the appropriate authorities.”
A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “While we reject the suggestion that there was any actual bias in the decision, we have agreed that the application will be redetermined.”
A spokeswoman for Mace Developments, appointed by Northern & Shell to deliver the project, said it was committed to the development “which has huge potential to contribute positively to the local community”.
