174 Rye Lane

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• Planning
• Major_developments

2026

August 2026 Planning application

174 Rye Lane is the former ASDA supermarket with the entrance in Rye Lane and a car park and an entrance in Alpha Street at the back. SoCo the developer want to replace this with a new development of commerce on the ground floor fronting on Rye Lane, with housing on the whole of the rest of the site. The housing would be for two tall towers of 197 co-living studios, with two affordable family homes on Alpha Street

• Planning application case number: 26/AP/0386. See here the details, and where to see other comments and to make comments.
• Developer's weblink for more details
• Join the local residents' mailing list, email - 174RyeLane@Gmail.com
• Local residents support the development of the site for housing, but have a number of concerns. These include only 1% affordable family housing, two tall towers which are too high and too close to the two storey houses in Alpha Street.

They are concerned that:

• only two affordable family homes are proposed, which is only about 1% of the total residential units on the site. This is significantly below the Council's affordable housing expectations.
• two tall towers of 6 stories would dominate and overlook the 2 storey houses close behind in Alpha Street and their windows and back gardens, and completely block windows and light from other flats and buildings close by on Rye Lane.
• the impact of hundreds more people in the neighbourhood because of the extra frequent vehicle servicing that would need.
• Thames Water have objected, pointing out that the current water system and sewage system will not be able to serve the increased numbers of residents.

December 2025 Introduction

The former ASDA site has been bought by developer SOCO. Information about them and their proposals for this development are here: https://ryelane.whatyouthink.co.uk/

• There have been two consultations in Autumn 2025. They are now developing their planning application for further consultation and submission in 2026.
• email: ryelane@whatyouthink.co.uk for more information or to get onto their mailing list.
• Southwark News 9th October 2025 “Developer defends ‘over the top’ Rye Lane housing scheme. Shared living offers a solution to the housing crisis but existing residents worry about the impact of hundreds of more people in their neighbourhood” Text of article:
  

Plans for hundreds of shared living homes in the heart of Peckham have been blasted as ‘insensitive’ to local residents living on the street behind.
Developer SOCO is consulting on designs for 222 shared living homes behind Rye Lane on an old industrial site which was once an Asda supermarket. The development would comprise three buildings, with the tallest middle tower reaching eight storeys in height, and a smaller block fronting onto Alpha Street which will consist of family-sized affordable homes.
The developer’s timeline suggests a planning application could be submitted to the council in December this year, with construction anticipated to be complete by 2028.
But Cameron Eccles, who has lived on Alpha Street which lies to the south of the development site for more than 20 years, accused the developer of not taking into consideration the impact on residents on his road.
Cameron stressed it was “right” the site was being developed but that the existing designs were “insensitive”.
“(The developer) made it clear in the consultation that the tallest middle block wouldn’t be visible from Rye Lane. But what about the mainly Victorian 2 and 3 storey houses of Alpha Street?”
Cameron, who attended a couple of the consultation meetings hosted by the developer, continued: “Directly behind my house there will be a building four storeys with a roof garden at the top, going up to eight storeys with a roof garden on top in the middle. They didn’t really show in the presentation.”
The other issue of concern to Alpha Street residents is the density of the development and the impact on traffic on Alpha Street.
“There are going to be 222 new dwellings – all the waste and rubbish collections will be via Alpha Street, all the Deliveroo and Amazon deliveries, because there isn’t access from Rye Lane.”
However, while Cameron agreed that more affordable homes do need to be built, he said: “My son will be moving back, my daughter tried to live locally for a long time because Peckham was her village where she grew up but couldn’t really afford it and has moved to north-east London.
“I know it’s very hard and I think it’s a good thing that there is a lot of building going on and that young people will have places they can afford to live. I knew it was being developed and I was looking forward to it but it just seems over the top.”
Shared living homes, sometimes presented as a solution to London’s housing crisis, are small properties which usually contain bedrooms along with a few basic amenities like a bathroom and kitchenette. Residents then have access to communal facilities like larger kitchens, storage space and outdoor areas.
Ben Harshak, a spokesperson for SOCO, said he was keen to address any concerns, telling us: “The proposed scheme will regenerate a vacant brownfield site to deliver much needed affordable homes and shared living accommodation for the people of Peckham.
“The scheme is at an early stage of the design process and we are committed to open and honest dialogue with all of our future neighbours. “We are working through the technical reports with the design team and intend to respond appropriately to the detail of the site. “I am personally very conscious of the concerns of the residents in Alpha Street and have ensured that we create time and space for them to voice their opinions. We have had 2 meetings arranged specially for this in the last week.”