Docklands News

Ljubomir Jankovic, professor of advanced building design at the University of Hertfordshire, discusses how a study by his team shows that a radical overhaul of the construction industry is needed to reach net zero goals. The research found that due to embodied carbon emissions only building all new housing using naturally grown materials with negative embodied carbon will allow the UK housing industry to be net zero by 2050. In addition to drastically ramping up the energy efficiency requirements for new builds, we should also urgently develop regulations for retrofitting existing houses, he argues. Better education of architects, engineers and construction managers is required, and detailed modelling of buildings will be required, too. 

The Independent (25/02/2022)  

British Land has revealed plans for the construction of two more towers at Canada Water. Covering a total of 53 acres, the Canada Water Regeneration scheme is one of the largest mixed-use regeneration projects in London, featuring up to 3,000 new homes, 2m sq ft of workspace, and 1m sq ft of retail, leisure, entertainment and community space including proposed health and social infrastructure, and educational uses for all ages. The two new towers will stand 34 and 37 storeys high with the shorter tower linked to a nine-storey podium of offices.  

Construction Review Online (22/02/2022)  

Maccreanor Lavington has been given permission for a 56-storey skyscraper at Canary Wharf. The £250m, 500-apartment block is being developed by Far East Consortium (FEC); the project will see Ensign House, a 1980s office building at South Quay, demolished and replaced by a 230m-tall bronze-coloured tower. The building, close to FEC's first project in Canary Wharf, the 65-storey Consort Place mixed-use development, will feature a thin spire on its top, which will be lit up at night to "celebrate the siting of the building". The scheme's ground floor will be given over to commercial use. Planners at Tower Hamlets Council said the loss of office floorspace on the site would conflict with its local plan but was "considered to be justified and outweighed by the existing low occupancy levels of the office building [and] the underutilised nature of the site as a whole". A construction start date has not been set and a contractor is yet to be appointed.

Architects' Journal (21/02/2022)   Construction News (18/02/2022)  

Telford Homes has acquired a site near Stratford International to build two residential tower blocks from LCR, the Department for Transport and HS1. Telford already has planning for the 380 homes development. The two-tower scheme will also have flexible retail and office space across the ground, first and second floors. “Having developed more than 1,750 homes in the area over the past 12 years, securing the opportunity to deliver more homes for the neighbourhood means we’re able to further contribute to making Stratford a world-leading destination, as well as improving housing supply", said Jerome Geoghegan, land and planning director at Telford Homes. “This site is a great example of our aim to build sustainable communities and create rewarding opportunities for our partners, residents and the communities in which we build".

Construction Enquirer (22/02/2022)   Property Week (22/02/2022)  

Residential property transactions fell by a fifth in January compared with the previous month amid shortages in homes for sale. More than 85,000 properties changed hands last month, the latest figures from the Treasury show. There were 22% fewer transactions than in December and 13% fewer than in January 2021. However, the figures for the start of the year were 7% higher than the January average for the three years before the pandemic. The supply of homes for sale is thought to be about 10% below the average across 2017 to 2019.

The Times (23/02/2022)  

The Government's flagship scheme to help first-time buyers get on the property ladder has only helped a tiny proportion of buyers in its first five months, new figures have revealed. The Government scheme “guarantees” the portion of a 95% loan-to-value mortgage over 80%– meaning they would partially compensate the lender if a buyer stopped paying. However, figures form the Treasury show that the scheme was used by 6,535 households between its launch on 19 April 2021 and 30 September. When he announced the mortgage guarantee scheme in 2021's March Budget, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said it would have the effect of “boosting the sector, creating new jobs and helping people achieve their dream of owning their own home.” However, it was undermined by the fact that, soon after the scheme launched, lenders started offering 5% deposit mortgages on their own terms, independent of the Government scheme. According to Yorkshire Building Society's analysis of UK Finance figures, there were 408,000 first-time buyers in 2021 as a whole. On average, that would mean 34,000 first-time buyers per month, or 170,200 in five months.

Daily Mail (18/02/2022)