Affordable housing tenants who had been told they could not access a gym and swimming pool built as part of an east London luxury apartment complex have welcomed an apparent reversal of the decision.

Ballymore, the private developer behind the 3,400-home Royal Wharf complex, has said renters in 243 apartments owned by the housing charity L&Q will now have access to the facilities.

L&Q marketed flats to affordable housing tenants on the basis that access to the Clubhouse was not included and said it was not “value for money” to pay for access to the facilities. The residents’ association also told its members the L&Q tenants were not entitled to use the facility. Marketing materials (pdf) for properties for sale on the estate had described the swimming and hydrotherapy pools, sauna, steam room and gym as “a perfect platform for bringing people together”.

Some tenants criticised the arrangement as unfair and complained it discriminated against them because of their income. One claimed it was “like social cleansing” that they, but not their neighbours, were excluded.

Ballymore had said that unless L&Q paid for the access for all of its tenants as part of a service charge, none of them could join individually. The position further disappointed tenants and the Greater London Authority, which spent £6.7m to help pay for the homes under its London Living Rent scheme which offer rents at around 60% of market rate for people on household incomes below £60,000. The deputy mayor for housing, James Murray, said the situation was “plain wrong” and pledged to put pressure on Ballymore’s senior management.

Now around 500 tenants will have access to the gym and pool which will open next month. One of the tenants said they were relieved by the move and said it had been “disappointing” not to have been allowed access.

A Ballymore spokesperson said on Thursday: “We can confirm that L&Q’s residents at Royal Wharf, regardless of tenure, have full access to the Clubhouse, for each member of the household including family use. This has always been the case and there has been no change in policy.”

However L&Q, which pays Ballymore a service charge, said it did not think the cost of the gym had been covered by the service charge agreement, which leaves a question mark over who is paying for the tenants’ access.

“Our understanding was that membership to the Clubhouse was not included in our tenancy agreements and we marketed the properties on that basis,” a spokesperson said. “We are pleased that Ballymore has clarified that our residents have full access to the Clubhouse when it opens, and that this has always been their intention.”



