A 30-storey tower block is being planned for Meridian Water as Enfield Council looks to boost the number of homes built in the early stages of the development.

The tower is more than double the size of the largest block that was approved in the outline application for Meridian One in 2017, the first part of the £6 billion council-led regeneration scheme.

Detailed plans for phase 1a of Meridian One, set to provide 300 homes, was approved in May last year. If the detailed plans for phase 1b of the scheme win approval, they will provide an extra 677 homes, with almost half set to be studio or one-bedroom units.

There will be 260 two-bedroom homes, 80 three-bedroom units and one four-bedroom home.

Of the planned homes on phase 1b, 218 are classed as ‘affordable’, with 14 per cent for shared ownership and 18 per cent for London Affordable Rent, although half of the total number of homes across Meridian One will be affordable.

Enfield Council, which has previously faced criticism over delays to its flagship Meridian Water development on former industrial land in Edmonton, claims the increased density means it will be able to deliver more homes earlier in the programme.

Housing campaigner Matt Burn, from campaign group Better Homes for Enfield, said the council seemed to be "moving further and further away from delivering the type of homes that Edmonton needs".

Mr Burn said: "The greatest need locally is for family-sized homes, particularly in Edmonton, where there are high levels of overcrowding...there is a focus on the most number of units rather than helping the greatest number of people."

Councillors have frequently criticised housing applications with low levels of family homes. The council’s local housing need assessment, published in 2020, states more than 60 per cent of new households will need homes with three or more bedrooms.

Responding to the concerns, a council spokesperson said the increase in density would boost the overall number of homes at Meridian One from 725 to 977 and increase the affordable homes from 213 to 491.

It said the target number of homes at Meridian Water remained 10,000, and more family-sized homes would be delivered on future phases of the scheme.

A spokesperson for the applicant, Vistry Partnerships, said the firm had worked with the council to increase the level of affordable housing from 25 per cent in the previous Meridian One proposals, to 50 per cent.