Matalan site

Ziser London are aiming to put in a new planning application to build student accommodation on the Matalan site rather than the 238 mixed residential units per their approved 2020 plans. They say that scheme’s not financially viable any more. Changes include:

• no balconies or roof terrace (roof used for solar energy and air heat pumps)
• nine storeys high in the north corner (by Cricklewood Broadway towards Wickes)
• no basement, and car-free
• pedestrian access between blocks from Temple Road, not a roadway
• Longley Way shortened – access to Wickes and for emergency services
• no ground-floor accommodation – coffee shop and retail unit open to general public, plus student facilities (but no bar)
• brief website here.
• Ziser has opted to provide 35% affordable units within the scheme

With London’s existing universities and Sheffield Hallam University opening a campus for up to 5,000 students in Brent Cross Town in autumn 2026, there’ll probably be demand for rooms. Other nearby developments are also for students and singles: about 1,300 in Brent Cross Town plus 844 in the 26-storey block beside the station on Geron Way that’s just been approved, plus 331 shared-living units at 1-13 Cricklewood Lane under application and 157 in Ziser’s Broadway/Hassop Road development approved two years ago, which they say is still going ahead.
Meanwhile, Brent’s approved the Staples Corner Growth Area Masterplan and Design Code SPD for the Brent side of the A5.