These flats in Dalston are being marketed to buy-to-let investors in Singapore

Developer Taylor Wimpey previously said the FiftySevenEast project would “help meet the housing needs of the borough directly”.

The team at Dalston boozer The Three Compasses celebrate four years at the helm of the pub on Thursday with cake and party games. And booze, obviously.

Hackney badly needs more housing – so it seemed like plans for a 15-storey blocks of flats next to Dalston Kingsland station might be a good thing? The council gave permission for the FiftySevenEast project last year after Taylor Wimpey argued that the tower would help tackle the housing shortage in Hackney.

Then, in October this year, the developer held a marketing event for FiftySevenEast at the Regent Hotel in Singapore. FiftySevenEast Dalston Promotional material for the flats includes projections for just how much house prices and rents in Hackney are expected to rise in the next few years.

The brochure says: “Over the last five years, Dalston has sustained one of the largest house price growths in London, making it the ideal investment opportunity. “The London Borough of Hackney has seen 73% growth in values since 2000, the largest of any of London’s 33 boroughs.

“With circa 35% of housing stock being privately rented, Dalston provides a strong rental opportunity.” So, rather than helping tackle the borough’s housing crisis, it looks a lot like the FiftySevenEast project is contributing to the problem. Taylor Wimpey successfully argued that only 15% of the development should be affordable housing – despite the council’s own target of 50%.

The developer also said it would be providing an ‘enterprise cafe’ which would support local small businesses with affordable desk space. There is currently no mention of such a cafe in any of the project’s marketing material. A spokesman for Taylor Wimpey said: “In accordance with the planning permission granted from the London Borough of Hackney, FiftySevenEast will deliver 83 private residential units and 15 affordable intermediate homes to the Dalston market.

“In line with company policy, and our agreement with the Home Builders Federation, properties at FiftySevenEast were released in the UK first with a launch event on 8th October at the Ace Hotel, London. “We are currently looking at occupiers for the ground floor space at FiftySevenEast.”