Residents Object to Temporary Roehampton Homes Scheme

Plans to convert blocks on the historic Mount Clare site

Mount Clare, Minstead Gardens

April 29, 2024

Plans to offer more than 200 homes for people in need of temporary accommodation on the site of a Grade I listed building, set in grounds designed by Capability Brown, are facing objections from Roehampton residents.

NTA Planning have applied to Wandsworth Council for permission for a temporary change of use of currently-vacant Mount Clare campus in Minstead Gardens from student accommodation to temporary housing.

The applicant has asked for the change of use to run for five years while long-term proposals for the site, which had grounds laid out by Capability Brown in 1774-5, are developed.

Grade I listed Mount Clare house would not be used for accommodation, but would be used for on-site management and a security office. Grade II* listed Mount Clare Temple, which is situated within the grounds, would be unaffected and not accessible by the residents.

The scheme involves student accommodation blocks, which were built around the house after the war and last used by Roehampton University, being converted to provide around 212 rooms with en-suite and kitchenette facilities. They would be offered to Wandsworth Council for it to provide homes for those in need of temporary accommodation.

The council is seeking comments on the scheme, which you can find by searching for application number 2024/0183 on the council’s planning explorer, before May 16. It has already received a number of objections to the plans.

Comments include a neighbour in nearby Tunworth Crescent, who said, “I want to see Mount Clare used and preserved. Yet I am concerned aspects of the plan fail to address its impact on nearby residents.

“The proposal suggests there will be a higher occupancy, over far more than the 30 weeks that students were in residence. As a consequence, I expect more noise, more people evading CCTV by smoking drugs in the shelter of our stairwell, and more fly-tipping.

“To address these concerns and enhance the quality of life for Mount Clare residents, I would suggest a lower occupancy rate, the provision of on-site communal facilities such as a club/games room, cafeteria, and communication facilities, together with a taller boundary fence and CCTV coverage of the area around the blocks so that anti-social behaviour does not disperse from Mount Clare to Tunworth Crescent.”

A Minstead Gardens resident said, “You say it will have 24 hour security and CCTV, that gives us some comfort, but it does not mean people living on the campus cannot come and go as they please and make noise late at night especially in the summertime. We already have in the past had to put up with disturbance.”

One Tunworth Crescent resident was worried about noise and light pollution, as well as calling for on-site cycle parking. Although there are no plans to allow extra parking on the site, another local resident was worried about future traffic congestion in the area.
A report prepared on behalf of the applicant said the funds generated through the temporary housing use would allow for the wider site to be more actively managed, kept secure, and to avoid further degradation until “more permanent and appropriate uses” can be found.

“The more transient form of accommodation proposed is considered to be similar in nature to the student accommodation, providing shorter-term living arrangements,” it stated.

There would be 24x7 on-site management presence at the premises, as well at support workers on site from Monday-Friday.

“The likelihood of anti-social behaviour is minimal from these households given their precarious status whilst in emergency accommodation. Any such behaviour will lead to eviction,” the report added.

The site and its hinterland totalling 35 acres were acquired in 1770 by George Clive. The land comprised Putney Park land. Mount Clare House, a ‘Palladian’ building, was built on the land in 1772-1773. The grounds were laid out by Capability Brown in 1774-1775. Various works of refurbishment and extension were carried out between 1780-1908.

The land was acquired by London City Council in 1945 under the terms that that the 18th century houses in the area, included Mount Clare, were preserved, but the gardens developed. The house was restored in 1954, with the removal of latter wings, and returning the house to its original state as a neo-classical villa.