Newsteer has provided planning and financial viability advice throughout the evolving redevelopment of Burr Street in Luton, supporting successive proposals for a higher-density residential scheme.
The client’s challenge
The steeply sloping site sits beside Luton station and the High Town Conservation Area. An initial 2018 application for 169 apartments and maisonettes was refused and the subsequent appeal dismissed, requiring the team to reassess how the site’s constraints and potential could be addressed.
Our solution
Newsteer worked closely with the Council over eight years through a sequence of section 73 and new full planning applications. The proposals evolved from 169 homes to 265, 272, 320, 398, 406 and ultimately 414 flats across four blocks ranging from five to eleven storeys.
Beyond advice: how we added value
By combining planning, viability, affordable housing and commercial insight, Newsteer helped Coalition Land continue refining the scheme after refusal and appeal, unlocking substantially more development value while responding to the site’s topography, station location and conservation area context.
Outcomes and impact
The scheme evolved from an initial 169 homes to proposals for 414 flats across four buildings of six to 11 storeys, with a mix of one, two and three bedroom homes and rooftop amenity.
