Wortley Road, London (credit: Jack Sutton).
London City Council has decided to allow the construction of four-storey stacked townhouses on neighbourhood ‘connector’ streets.
A stacked townhouse differs from a regular one in that it has two units stacked on top of one another, as opposed to a simply a row of connected single-family units.
Some of examples of ‘connector’ streets that these homes can now be built on include: Cheapside Street, Aldersbrook Road, Millbrook Drive and Wortley Road.
XFM News went to London’s Wortley Village to talk to people who live in the area and find out what they think of the possibility of these untraditional homes in their neighbourhood.
“My whole answer would depend on whether these four-storey townhouses would be affordable for people–for poor people,” says one resident.
While supporters of the plan in council argue that the units are more affordable to build, and provide higher density housing, there is no requirement, as of now, that any of the units need to be affordable to buy or rent.
Another resident shared her concerns about local traffic.
“Well, four-storey town homes on busy streets like Wortley-although they aren’t necessarily a negative-I think it’s all gonna depend on the parking situation,” she says. “Because I do find, pedestrian-wise, it’s not the safest area right now.”
Others were entirely supportive of the idea.
“We’re low on accommodation,” says another. “And a four-storey is sort of New York-y, kind of a walk-up… I’m into that.”
Another side of the conversation that is often heard when talking about building high-density housing in London’s residential neighbourhoods is the concern for preserving the look and ‘context’ of the area.
“Why build a four-storey townhouse where we have history?” asks one resident.
The council’s decision to allow these new homes to be built does not necessarily mean that any will be put up in the near future, but rather that the city has simply changed their policy to amend the regular height limits for these streets, and developers will now be able to apply to the city to construct a four-storey stacked townhouse if they so choose.
“A lot of people are getting ahead of this and assuming zoning is going to be granted on every application,” says Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis. “When, in fact, all we’re doing right now is an official plan amendment.”
In fact, Mayor Josh Morgan pointed out during the council meeting that ‘four units as-of-right’ (or fourplexes) have been permitted for over a year and yet the city has not seen a surge in their construction.
“This council had the foresight, and I think the wisdom, to approve four units as-of-right over a year ago,” he says. “And we’ve not seen the city take over by four units as-of-right.”
