"Non-material": how Westfield quietly added 94 bedrooms to its student tower

A planning procedure designed for minor tweaks has been used to expand a major development next door to East Village — adding 94 bedrooms and an extra floor to the student accommodation block planned above Westfield Stratford City's rooftop car park.

The amendment, approved by Newham Council this spring, was submitted under Section 96A of the Town and Country Planning Act. Section 96A is intended for changes that do not materially affect a development. It carries no statutory public consultation requirement and is designed for quick decisions. Under it, the total bedroom count for the scheme rises from 520 to 614. The building gains a fifteenth storey above the existing rooftop car park level. Bedrooms per floor increase from 40 to 43-44.

The applicant, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW), says the increase reflects greater structural capacity in the existing building than the original design used, and that the amendments are needed to make the scheme viable to deliver. The changes also update the building to comply with revised fire safety standards under BS 9991:2024, and include minor alterations to the external elevations and a redesigned courtyard facade.

URW held two pre-application meetings with Newham Council — in April and July 2025 — before submitting the formal application. The council agreed to the amendments in principle before submission.

What was already approved

The original planning permission (24/00113/FUL) was granted in November 2024, when the London Legacy Development Corporation was still the local planning authority for the Olympic Park area. It permitted a 14-storey, 520-bedroom purpose-built student accommodation block built vertically above the existing Car Park C on Hitchcock Lane, known as Plot M2.

The scheme includes public realm works to International Station Square, Roundhouse Lane, Celebration Avenue and Hitchcock Lane, and a publicly accessible community, sports and leisure space at rooftop car park level. The planning agreement requires 35% of units to be affordable student accommodation — a proportion maintained in the amended scheme, though the absolute number of affordable units increases with the higher total.

From 1 December 2024, planning powers over the site transferred from LLDC back to Newham Council. This amendment was decided by Newham.

What "non-material" means in practice

There is no statutory definition of what constitutes a non-material amendment. Government guidance says it depends on context. The procedure exists alongside more formal amendment routes, which do carry consultation requirements.

A 94-bedroom increase — 18% more than consented — and the addition of an entire floor sits at the upper end of what might typically be considered minor. Whether Newham Council's agreement was appropriate is a matter of planning judgment. The council agreed to the amendments in principle at pre-application stage before the formal submission arrived.

URW has not published a public statement on the amendments.

What residents have said

The student accommodation scheme has been discussed in East Village's WhatsApp community since the original application in 2024. Responses have been mixed, with some residents raising concerns about density and the cumulative effect of development on the neighbourhood. Others have noted that the site was always part of the area's long-term development plan.

Have you got a view on this development, or experience of the non-material amendment process? EVH wants to hear from residents on the record. Get in touch.