Berkeley's 28-storey, 149 extra homes plan for the old B&Q site is on the 4 November agenda. Also up: a Cheam care home rebuild and 10 Hillcroome Road.

Berkeley’s plan to add 149 homes and a 28-storey tower to the former B&Q site in Sutton will be decided by councillors on Wednesday 4 November.

It is the first item on the Planning Committee agenda, published on 23 October. The officers’ report and recommendation are marked “To Follow”, so the council has not yet said whether it backs the scheme.

Two smaller applications are on the same agenda, and both come with a recommendation to approve:

  • the rebuilding of a fire-damaged care home at 32 The Avenue, Cheam
  • the council’s own plan to house up to six single-parent families at 10 Hillcroome Road, Sutton

The meeting starts at 7pm at the Civic Offices, St Nicholas Way. The papers are on the council’s committee site.

The B&Q site: 1,035 homes becoming 1,184

The application, ref DM2026/00821, is from St George West London, part of the Berkeley Group. The site on Sutton Court Road is now branded Sutton Garden Square.

We covered the application in detail when it was open for comment. From the developer’s planning statement, the main changes are:

  • 1,184 homes instead of the 1,035 already approved
  • the tallest building, A1, rising from 22 storeys to 28
  • A2 rising from 19 storeys to 22, plus a new 15-storey block between A2 and Building B
  • 265 affordable homes instead of 355, all of them for social or affordable rent, with shared ownership dropped
  • an affordable share, measured by habitable room, falling from 35% to 24%

The council’s agenda lists the conditions Berkeley wants to vary. They cover the approved drawings, storey heights, the number of homes, commercial floorspace, cycle and car parking, drainage, play space, landscaping, the energy strategy and the fire safety strategy.

We will add the officers’ recommendation when the report is published.

32 The Avenue, Cheam: a 15-bed dementia care home

The officers’ report says the site on the corner of The Avenue and Northey Avenue has been a care home since 1925. The building has been abandoned and is “not fit for habitation following a fire”.

Abbey Cheam Centre Ltd wants to knock down the 22-bedroom home and build a smaller one:

  • 15 large bedrooms for people with early-onset or advanced dementia and other complex needs
  • two storeys, with rooms in the roof and a basement holding the kitchen, dining room and activity room
  • 13 full-time and 7 part-time staff
  • five parking spaces at the front, using the existing crossovers
  • the protected copper beech on the corner kept

The application, DM2025/00832, has taken 66 weeks to reach committee. It drew 38 objection letters from 34 households and one letter of support. The objections cover parking, overdevelopment, the effect on the Burton Estates Area of Special Local Character and the Grade II listed St Andrew’s church next door, heat pump noise, overlooking and the tree.

This is the site’s third attempt at a rebuild. A 24-bedroom, three-storey scheme was refused and then dismissed at appeal. The inspector found it would overlook a house on Northey Avenue and put the protected tree’s roots at risk. A 16-bedroom version was withdrawn.

Officers recommend approval, subject to a section 106 agreement to be signed by 4 February 2027. It includes a carbon offsetting payment of £18,553.

10 Hillcroome Road: six families in emergency housing

Sutton Council is the applicant here. It wants to change the empty detached house at 10 Hillcroome Road, SM2 5EL, into short-term emergency accommodation for up to six single-parent families. We reported the plan on 7 October, when 15 objections had been made.

The officers’ report for DM2026/00843 sets out how it would work:

  • one parent and no more than two children in each of the six bedrooms; a typical household of 14 people, and a theoretical maximum of 18
  • run by the council’s Children’s Services with Sutton Housing Partnership as landlord, which would provide 24-hour emergency cover
  • no staff living on site; each family has a social worker who visits
  • quiet hours from 10pm to 7am and no overnight visitors, under a management plan the permission would make binding
  • no changes to the outside of the building

The application was first described as a house in multiple occupation. It was changed to a residential institution (Class C2) because the children count as residents, which takes the household over the HMO limit. New site notices went up on 23 September.

The report counts 29 objection letters from 19 addresses. Objectors raise the loss of a family home, the number of people in one house, the character of the Highfields Area of Special Local Character, noise, parking with only one off-street space, and the council deciding its own application.

Officers recommend approval. They say the scheme meets “an acute statutory demand” and keeps families out of bed and breakfasts outside the borough. No technical consultee objected: environmental health, highways, waste and the London Fire Brigade all raised no objection.

What it means for you

  • Speaking: applicants, ward councillors, up to three objectors and up to three supporters can ask to speak, for four minutes per side. Tell Committee Services in writing by midday on 4 November, at committee.services@sutton.gov.uk (020 8770 4990). Register early: if several people want to speak on one side, they share the four minutes.
  • Watching: the meeting is public and the council says it will be recorded and put on its website.
  • Reading the plans: the full application documents and every objection are on the council’s planning register under the references above.

We will report the decisions. Applications across the borough are tracked on our Sutton planning applications page.

Sources