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Welcome to the Better Archway Forum Web Site

Archway is a lively London village.
We have independent shops and cafes, a swimming pool, library, hospital, internationally acclaimed art school. There are also fantastic transport links with tube and overground stations, plus 14 different bus routes, not to mention the spot where Dick Whittington and his cat turned again to become Lord Mayor of London.

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Archway’s boundaries are Dartmouth Park Hill to the west, Hornsey Lane to the north, Hazelville Road to the east, and Fairbridge Road and the Upper Holloway railway line to the south.

The Forum is a community organisation which works for everyone with an interest in Archway, whether they live, work or run a company here.

Our aim is to make Archway an even better place to live, work and play.


We have started and support projects that improve the quality of life in the area, and work to empower the community in sustainable and environmentally friendly ways to help make it a place where people can live, work and relax safely and successfully.

We have worked with local organisations and Islington council on a wide range of projects from greening to protecting historic buildings, improving air quality, and reducing carbon our footprint.

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Autumn 2026 - THE TOWER IS BACK

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SIX KEY ISSUES 

  

It Does Not Meet Housing Need   

  • 57 of 91 affordable/social units are just studio or one bedroom

  

  • There is no focus on the urgent need for family homes, despite Islington primary schools facing vacancy rates of 18-20%

 

  • Private units are poorly designed so will struggle to attract buyers.

 

  • The bottom has fallen out of the student housing market.

 

Sales of London new build housing have stalled   

  • According to https://www.moliorlondon.com  London new build sales to individuals have fallen 67% since 2022. Sales are happening to companies,, but that is not enough. 

 

  • That means much of the current scheme would be set to stand empty – especially with no end to the Iran war in sight

  

The Bottom Has Fallen Out of the Student Housing Market   

  •   There is no demand for a huge tower of student housing, with 242 student rooms across the site.

 

  • The drop in demand was clear back in February 2026 when student housing provider Unite took at £10m hit, walking away from a 605-bed scheme at Paddington, approved by the Mayor. .

 

  • At Archway there is no agreement, as required, with a tertiary education provider.

 

  • On the other hand, student housing does qualify for a 4% developer tax rebate, but with no requirements that it remain student housing.

 

  • And the Mayor counts every 2.5 student rooms as a new home for Londoners in his housing stats - in the case of Archway 96 fictitious new homes. 

 

    

The Quality of the Scheme is Poor   

  •   Even application documents admit that affordable/social housing fails to meet required light levels.

 

  • Experts in public space have reported that the proposed layout would promote anti-social behaviour – already a problem in the centre of Archway.

 

  • While boasting of privacy distances within the scheme, these are completely ignored at boundaries, removing privacy from existing residents – of course contrary to policy.

 

  • The project offers so little open space it relies on claiming the use of open space on the Girdlestone Estate and in Archway Park on the opposite side of the Archway Road dual carriageway, and still doesn’t meet policy requirements.

 

  • A slab-shaped tower facing the prevailing wind, just like Archway Tower, is set to magnify Archway’s wind blight, though the application wind study carefully limits the area covered to omit any amplification of two such buildings next to each other.

 

  • Private units include single aspect duplexes with one window serving both floors – who would want to buy that? 

 

It is Unsustainable 

  • The most sustainable building is one already   there – especially soundly built Victorian structures.

 

  • By contrast the UK’s second tallest   residential building, just approved at Vauxhall, has a predicted life of just 60 years, with a huge carbon footprint.

 

  • Archway documents mention sustainability but so far we have not found evidence of anything to offset the carbon footprint of demolition and rebuild. Meanwhile, the existing Victorian buildings   are still standing solid despite more than a decade of active neglect.

 

  • The existing floorspace on the site is enough for all the residential accommodation proposed, excluding the claimed student housing.


The System Pleases Developers But Does Little for Housing Need   

  • Planning policies are formulated with full  access to statistics by people skilled in what they do, interrogated and adjusted by the expertise of the planning inspectorate. It is foolish to disregard them, as the Mayor is doing, and expect a positive outcome for London.

 

  • The current system of relying on private developers to provide housing is not working.

 

  • To please those developers targets for anything from carbon to social housing have been ignored. 

 

  • To add insult to injury, once work starts, further concessions are always made to the developer because of ‘increased costs’ and ‘falling prices’. What is promised is never what is actually provided.

 

  • However, the words ‘housing shortage’ at planning committees are a cue for politicians to roll over for the developers.

 

  • The politicians need to assess each scheme on what it will really deliver.

 

 

WHAT TO DO?​

 

Official objections can be submitted at https://planapps.london.gov.uk/planningapps/P2024-2598-FUL

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But that will only consider planning policy. 

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Stopping a dysfunctional proposal needs direct contact with politicians and letters in the press to publicise what is going on:  

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Politicians - GLA

   

  • The Mayor offers no email address or direct   form of communication - never a good sign in a democratically elected individual. You can complete a form at https://www.london.gov.uk/contact-us-form...    

 

  • sem.moema@london.gov.uk is Labour geographical member for Hackney, Islington and Waltham Forest, with a special interest in housing and is deputy member of the GLA housing committee

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  • Benali.hamdache@london.gov.uk is a Green Party member of the housing committee and as an Islington councillor on the Islington planning committee. 

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Politicians – Central Government

  

Central government is winking at the Mayor’s fudges and deals, so good also to also contact:

  

 

 

 

 

  

PRESS 

  

Usually best with letters of under 400 words, including name, address, email and phone number in case of queries. Even better if you can link to a recent article. 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 Also trade papers like:

 

 

Property and Development News https://www.padmagazine.co.uk

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Vorley Road Development

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LB Islington gave itself permission to build three blocks of housing on the Vorley Road bus stand and site of the old Neighbourhood Office, half as social housing and half for private sale but it appears that the soaring cost of build, not least because of the Iran War, have put this on hold.

 

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The Road Layout

 

The removal of the gyratory has significantly improved Archway. Still lacking is:
 

  1. Public transport serving points of demand ie terminating routes running to the Hospital  northbound and Archway Market and Upper Holloway station southbound.

  2. All buses travelling to the same destination (Archway Road or Highgate for example) leaving from the same stop.

 

 

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