Developer agrees £2.9m affordable homes payment after co-living scheme approved in Watford

A council planning officer, who recommended that councillors approve the application, said the recently proposed height was “appropriate within the setting”.

Paul Brundell, chief executive officer of Kosy Living, told councillors that the developer wanted to provide a “a high-quality, affordable and sustainable living environment for Watford”.

He said: “Demand for smaller homes is high, supply is limited and affordability remains still, unfortunately, a pressing challenge.

“For younger people, recent graduates, early career professionals and those working in Watford’s key service industries, the options are stark. They are often forced into overcrowded HMOs or poor-quality flats with private landlords.”

However, councillors did raise some concerns abut the scheme. Labour councillor Nigel Bell warned that the development would make a “big difference” to views in the nearby Nascot Conservation Area around St Andrew’s Church.

But Iain Sharpe, a Liberal Democrat councillor, argued that the existence of a conservation area did not mean the neighbour should be allowed to “fossilise”, adding that the development would make a “positive contribution without having too negative an effect” on the Nascot Conservation Area.

Earlier this year, an 18-storey co-living block containing 210 flats on the same road was also approved by Watford Borough Council.

A proposal for a co-living block and student accommodation tower including 650 homes was made in Bristol earlier this year.

In Glasgow, permission was also granted to convert a landmark tower into a co-living development, bringing the housing model to Scotland for the first time.

Concerns have recently been raised about co-living schemes, with a campaign group in Cardiff raising issues this summer that the housing model was “forcing down quality” with inadequate communal space.