Plans approved for Britain’s first women’s-only tower block

theguardian.com:

Planners have approved designs for what is believed to be Britain’s first women’s-only tower block.

The scheme for 102 flats to be rented to single women is to be built in west London by a housing association founded in 1920 as part of the suffragette movement.

Each home will have a deep balcony and will be designed specifically for women. Details could include slightly lower kitchen work surfaces and careful attention to ventilation to ensure comfort for menopausal women, said Women’s Pioneer Housing (WPH), the landlord.

The 15-storey tower in Ealing will offer homes for low social rents to women who face inequality, abuse and disadvantages in the housing market. Tenants are likely to include victims of domestic abuse and black and minority ethnic women who face a significant pay gap, making housing less affordable.

The person taking the tenancy must be a single woman, and men will only be able to live in the tower block if they become a tenant’s partner. The only way a tenant could be male is if they are the adult child of a female tenant and inherit the tenancy. Transgender women, including people intending to undergo gender reassignment, will be allowed, but men who cross-dress, transgender men, and anyone with a known history of male violence against women or children will not.

“The benefit is security,” said one woman who has lived in a current WPH property on the site since she was a previously homeless student 20 years ago. “We’re not dealing with different types of people moving up and down [the stairs] all the time. I feel comfortable because I am around women only.”

But the project is proving controversial with some of the current tenants who face years living elsewhere before returning to the tower or not being