A £17m loan will fund 31 flats at Sotheron Place, off the King's Road, 10 of them at affordable rents. What was approved, what it replaces and how it got here.
A £17m loan has been agreed to build 31 flats at Sotheron Place, the former warehouse site between Michael Road and the King’s Road in SW6.
The lender, Triple Point, announced the deal on 23 September. It is lending to Sotheron Developments. Triple Point said it is the largest single loan its property development team has made.
The loan settles how the scheme will be paid for. The planning permission behind it dates from January 2021, and it took two attempts and an appeal to get there.
What is being built
The scheme has two blocks. Hammersmith and Fulham Council’s committee report on the application (ref 2020/01499/FUL) sets out what was approved:
- a 6-storey block (Block A) with two basement levels
- a 3-storey block (Block B) backing onto Cambria Street
- 31 flats: 21 for private sale and 10 affordable
- office space on the first floor of Block A
- a climbing centre, or another sport and recreation use, on the basement and ground floors of Block A
Triple Point describes the finished scheme as 31 apartments plus two commercial units. It says the 10 affordable homes have been pre-sold to Westway/Karibu Housing Association.
The site covers 0.24 hectares, according to the council’s report. It is in Parsons Green and Walham ward. The northern edge falls inside the Moore Park Conservation Area.
The affordable homes
The 10 affordable flats are all for rent. The committee report splits them evenly:
| Tenure | 1-bed | 2-bed | 3-bed | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| London Affordable Rent | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| London Living Rent | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Private sale | 6 | 12 | 3 | 21 |
London Affordable Rent homes are let to low-income households through the council’s nominations agreement. The report put the 2020 weekly benchmark at £168.67 for a two-bed and £178.05 for a three-bed. That was about 30% of local market rents at the time.
London Living Rent homes are for households earning no more than £60,000 a year. The 2020 benchmarks in the report were £1,303 a month for a two-bed and £1,433 for a three-bed. Both rents are reset each year by the Mayor of London, so today’s figures will be different.
The affordable share is 32% by homes and 35% by floorspace. That is below the council’s 50% target. The council’s viability adviser, Gerald Eve, concluded the scheme could not afford more, and officers accepted that.
How the site got here
The site held two industrial buildings used for storage, a climbing centre and a ski centre. The climbing centre was approved in 2013.
An earlier plan for 36 flats went to the planning committee in November 2018. The minutes record 1 vote for approval and 7 against. Councillors objected that the shared ownership homes were not genuinely affordable. They also said the rear block would overbear the houses on Cambria Street.
The developer appealed and lost in October 2019. The inspector found the five-storey rear block would harm the outlook from Cambria Street homes and gardens.
The revised scheme cut that block from five storeys to three, dropped five flats and swapped shared ownership for rented homes. The council sent 504 letters to neighbours about it. It received six replies: three objections and three letters of support. Permission was granted on 28 January 2021.
Is work already under way?
Legally, yes. On 2 February 2024 the council approved a certificate of lawful development (ref 2023/03276/CLE). It confirms the 2021 permission was started in time, through demolition of the existing buildings. That keeps the permission alive.
The council has since approved several minor changes. The most recent (ref 2025/03541/NMAT) added four rooftop heat pumps and a new shopfront, steps and ramp for the commercial unit in Block A.
The build itself is the hard part. The two-storey basement sits on a tight site that is also in Environment Agency Flood Zone 3, according to the council’s report. The broker on the deal, LEXI Finance, said in Triple Point’s release that the site is currently “a double-storey hole in the ground”.
What it means for you
If you live nearby, the permission limits building work. Work audible beyond the site is allowed between 8am and 6pm on weekdays and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays, with none on Sundays or bank holidays. The developer must also publish a contact number for the site. Complaints about noise or hours go to the council.
If you are looking for an affordable home, the London Affordable Rent flats will be let through the council’s nominations list, not advertised privately.
If you climb, the planning conditions reserve the lower floors of Block A for a climbing centre or another sport and recreation use.
Sotheron Place sits opposite the former gasworks, where permission was granted in 2018 for up to 1,843 homes. The developer’s own site description names that scheme as St William’s King’s Road Park. Our Fulham planning news page tracks other big schemes in the area, and roadworks and travel covers closures as they are announced.
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