Mayor fights for controversial Potters Fields housing scheme
Ken Livingston, Mayor of London, has threatened to use his legal powers to fund a £200 million housing scheme near the City Hall. Mr Livingstone threatened to compulsorily purchase the land after Southwark council, which owns about half the site, refused to sell to Berkeley Homes. Never before has a Major of London used a compulsory purchase order in support of a private project.
He highlighted it as an example of a scheme that could help hit his new target of an extra 50,000 affordable homes in London over the next three years. This is despite the fact that only 114 of the 374 homes would be affordable - well short of the Mayor's 50 per cent target.
The project, widely opposed by residents, has been nicknamed "Stack of Coins" as it comprises of eight cylindrical residential towers between 12 and 19 storeys, and would be situated between Tower Bridge and City Hall.
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