Vote due on £80m scheme amid affordable homes row

Plans to build 432 homes on the site of a former 1970s office block have been recommended for approval despite complaints it will deliver little affordable housing.

Norwich City Council's planning committee will vote on the proposals to redevelop land previously occupied by the demolished Victoria House in Queens Road on Thursday.

The applicant, Norwich Victoria Limited, claims the new community close to the city centre would ease traffic, boost footfall and be "transformational" for St Stephens Street.

It has agreed to offer 10% of the properties as affordable housing, but local councillors and heritage groups have been critical about the amount promised.

Karen Davis, independent councillor for Town Close, feared this agreement had not been "explicitly secured".

"Residents are entitled to ask why yet another major city centre development is being allowed to sidestep affordable housing requirements that others are expected to meet," she said.

"People will look at this 432-home luxury development and wonder if anyone in the city will actually benefit."

The Norwich Society has also been critical of the limited affordable housing on offer but has been supportive of the site's redevelopment.

Two separate assessments concluded the scheme would be unviable if it offered any "affordable housing" – where properties are offered 20% below market value - but 10% has been agreed.

In a report, a city council officer said overall assessments showed the scheme was "actually unlikely to deliver any return on investment".

If approved, Norwich Victoria Limited will offer the homes as rental properties, comprising of 29 duplexes/town houses (2-3 beds), 112 studios, 151 one-bed and 140 two-bed apartments.

Victoria House was used as offices for insurance firm Marsh for several years but in 2022, it decided to downsize to the Broadland Business Park following the pandemic.

Work began to demolish the building in 2024.

The development firm said the scheme would regenerate wasteland.

"Victoria House is set to deliver significant benefits for Norwich, including 432 new homes, new public gardens and play spaces, start up space for local businesses, £2.8m in Community Infrastructure Levy funding, and the sustainable regeneration of this prominent brownfield site in the city centre," a spokesperson said.

"The affordable housing that we are voluntarily offering is a further benefit. This offer is enshrined within the Section 106 legal agreement associated with the planning application.

"This is the standard way in which affordable housing provision is accounted for through the planning process."

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