Student digs now preferred option for developers at Woolwich Road site
By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter
A scheme for a set of flats in Greenwich have been scrapped to include 190 student rooms instead.
The project would see the new rooms, 35 per cent of which would be ‘affordable’, being added to the Woolwich Road site alongside public realm improvements and communal gardens.
The site in East Greenwich was sold to AVF Developments in 2023. Changes would also reportedly see additional outdoor planting and widening of the footpath in Woolwich Road.
The ground floor of the structure would include shared study areas and amenity spaces, as well as shops on the outside. Each block will reportedly have access to communal garden spaces, with each floor including approximately 36 student rooms.
Greenwich council granted permission last year for a set of 58 flats to be built on the site across a series of blocks up to seven storeys-tall.
The developer said that since acquiring the site, it had explored ways to address the capital’s shortfall in student accommodation. The plans said a 2023 survey had found an additional 178,000 student beds were required in the capital.
Planning documents said the revised approach for the site have been informed by the community, stakeholders and feedback from the council. This included extra details on the corners of the building, a relocated main entrance and wider gaps between the proposed blocks.
The plans said: “Since we presented our plans in December 2023, the 141 Woolwich Road project team have been considering feedback from the local community and Greenwich council to enhance and further shape our proposals.”
AVF Developments has held two rounds of consultation events on the scheme, the most recent of which was last month. An application on the plans is intended to be sent to Greenwich council this summer, with works beginning late next year and concluding at the end of 2026 subject to planning approval.
Pictured top: An artist’s impression of the previous iteration of the block planned for Woolwich Road (Picture: Lawfords and Sons Ltd / Scott Brownrigg / AVF Developments)