Revised plans for 86 affordable flats next to a suburban Tube station have been given the green light by councillors.

Developer Pocket Living has won permission to build two blocks of five-storey flats on land to the south of Woodside Park Underground Station in Totteridge.

The one-bedroom units will be 20 per cent cheaper than market flats in the surrounding area and aimed at people who live and work in Barnet.

Councillors had previously refused permission for the buildings due to the lack of parking spaces and the impact they would have on views of locally listed St Barnabas Church.

But at a meeting of Chipping Barnet area planning committee on Tuesday (January 7), revisions to the scheme convinced two councillors who had been opposed to change their minds.

The design of the flats has been altered to make them blend in better with the surrounding buildings, while disabled parking spaces, a car club bay and money to fund permit parking have been added to reduce the impact on neighbouring streets.

Barnet Council received 34 objections and 11 letters of support for the plans.

David Moss, who works for tech giant Apple, told the meeting he had lived in eight separate properties during his ten years in London and was ready to buy his own place – but was not eligible for social housing and unable to afford homes on the open market.

The 32-year-old, who lives in Friern Park, said: “Many of my friends and colleagues are in a similar situation. Some have resigned themselves to never owning their own home.

“There is a large proportion of workers in London crying out for a chance to own their own properties but simply can’t, due to a lack of affordable, good-quality projects.

“In my opinion, Pocket offers viable, well considered and good quality answers to this need.”

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But Olivia Ellah, who lives on Holden Road, said the changes to the scheme were not enough to prevent parking problems and harm to the character of the area.

Chipping Barnet MP Theresa Villiers also spoke against the plans, telling the meeting: “The heart of the problem with this application is almost nothing has changed from the application this committee rejected relatively recently.

“There would be significant overspill of parking, and the changes have done nothing to mitigate the problems with massing, excessive height and the proximity to St Barnabas Church.”

After nearly an hour of debate – in which Pocket Living planning director Judith Salomon robustly defended the scheme – Cllr Richard Cornelius (Conservative, Totteridge) and Cllr Roberto Weeden-Sanz (Conservative, Brunswick Park) were persuaded to back the development.

Ms Salomon explained the flats – which will cost less than £300,000 – would be aimed at first-time buyers earning more than £36,500, including “key workers” such as teachers, police officers and hospital staff.

She added the flats would initially be offered only to people living and working in the borough, and there were already 250 people in Barnet registered for a Pocket home.

Cllrs Cornelius and Weeden-Sanz also asked for a range of extra measures to improve the scheme – including more tree-planting round the development and boxes to protect London’s population of swifts.

With Labour committee members voting in favour, the support of the two Conservative councillors meant the plans were approved.

Cllr Wendy Prentice (Conservative, High Barnet) and committee chairman Cllr Stephen Sowerby (Conservative, Oakleigh) voted against.