Planning approval has been given to build almost 700 homes on parts of the Mount Pleasant postal sorting site in London.

The site straddles the London boroughs of Islington and Camden but after both councils missed deadlines to consider the applications, applicant Royal Mail Group asked the Mayor to take on the role of planning authority for the scheme.

Since then, the London Mayor's planning team has been working closely with Royal Mail Group as well as the local councils, and has been able to negotiate for the development to include 24 per cent affordable housing instead of the originally proposed 12 per cent.

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In total, the scheme will see the construction of 681 homes, 163 of which will be affordable. Of those, 98 will be affordable rent and 65 will be shared ownership. The affordable rent homes will be an average of 44 per cent of the full market rental value in the area and some of the larger family units could be between 20 to 30 per cent of the full market rental value. There will also be shops, offices, restaurants and public space on half of the site.

Mr Boris Johnson, said: "London is growing at a record rate and within a few years there will be more people living here than at any time in the city's history. Building new homes is absolutely crucial and by working closely with the local authorities and Royal Mail we have been able to bring forward a scheme that had been in serious danger of stalling while doubling the amount of affordable homes."

(CD/IT)