Proposals to demolish parts of Kingsland Shopping Centre to make way for "massive" tower blocks have prompted backlash from locals concerned by the plan's failure to meet affordable housing targets.
Real estate firm Criterion Capital Ltd has lodged a planning application to knock down the eastern third of the Dalston retail complex and build four multi-storey buildings.
The project could see 254 homes built, alongside several spaces for commercial use, but the applicant has admitted it will not meet Hackney Council's affordable housing policy.
This has sparked concern from residents and activists, some of whom have described it as a "terrible development" and at odds with the borough's "greatest local need".
The local authority's borough-wide target mandates that, for developments of 10 units or more, half must be affordable.
However, Criterion argues that meeting this would conflict with its right - as the landowner bringing the development forward - to seek a financial incentive.
Under the proposals, 173 of the new flats will be on sale at market rent, with the remainder classed as "affordable" homes.
Thirty-six of these would be at "intermediate rent", which in London is typically around 80% of market value.
Forty-five homes would be at "London affordable rent", also called "genuinely affordable", which is for lower-income households with rents capped by the GLA.
Of the 254 homes, 70 will have three bedrooms or more, known as family-sized.
Criterion's financial viability assessment states that even if 254 flats and commercial spaces are delivered, it will only yield £3.2 million after all costs are deducted - a quarter of the land's "minimum benchmark value".
The applicant estimates construction alone will cost around £97 million, which, atop other expenses, puts the total price of development at £153 million.
Solicitor Bill Parry-Davies said the plans have come in the face of affordable housing and family-sized homes being "the greatest local need".
He added that the high-rises, "crammed onto the site, which is just over 9,000 square metres", would also "loom over Ridley Road market".
The proposals have also drawn the ire of campaign group Morning Lane People's Space (MOPS), which called it a "terrible development" and encouraged locals to object.
For years, MOPS has lobbied the Town Hall to commit to delivering social housing in its redevelopment of the Tesco site in central Hackney, criticising the local authority's "top-down" approach.
Criterion's most recent application comes roughly 12 years after it first mooted plans to bulldoze and regenerate the "outdated" shopping centre, of which it is the freeholder.
In 2013, the firm sought public engagement over proposals to build a new retail complex, roughly 500 new flats, and install a planted thoroughfare over the Dalston Eastern Curve Garden.
No formal planning application was submitted.
In May 2021, the council approved guidance on the redevelopment of the shopping centre as part of its Dalston Plan, which set out what kind of building projects it deems acceptable in the area, and where.
The council confirmed Criterion's recent application in March 2025.
The same month, the Town Hall published its final Dalston Plan, which stated that workspaces in the area should be "affordable for local people", and that its guidelines require "genuinely affordable housing".
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), Rachel Nkiessu-Guifo, a resident and Green Party activist, said she was taken aback by the applicant's "confidence".
"Surely, the message needs to be really clear: if you want to invest in Hackney and build here, you must meet our affordability criteria," she said.
"The council needs to be courageous, and not bow down."
The local authority has until September 5 to make a decision on the application. This has been extended from June 18.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has received £4 billion in government funding from 2021-2026 to deliver more affordable housing in the capital.
Last year, the Local Democracy Reporting Service found the number of affordable home building projects commenced in London had dropped by 88 per cent compared to 2023, as developers pulled out due to cost pressures.
Residents can view the application and submit representations via the local planning authority portal.
Criterion Capital was contacted for comment.
