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26th June 2015
Plans for a new high-rise residential scheme in Canary Wharf have just been unveiled. The £550m Harbour Central offers 901 apartments spread across five mixed-use towers, the tallest of which, Maine Tower, rises 41-storeys high. Almost 280 of the homes in the development, a joint venture between Galliard Homes, Cain Hoy, and Frogmore, have been earmarked for affordable rent or shared ownership. Harbour Central was designed by architects Rolfe Judd, while the towers’ interior design was drawn up by Argent Design. The first 297 homes in the scheme, set for completion by 2018-2019, went on sale on June 25th; its launch event runs until June 28th. Studio apartments average 370sq ft with prices starting at £350,000.
The Wharf (24/06/2015) Building Magazine (24/06/2015)
26th June 2015
The sale of 345 apartments at the 10 Park Drive development in Docklands marks a landmark in the transformation of Canary Wharf from an "office-only" business zone into a new town with thousands of residents. The first residential tower at the financial hub, designed by Stanton Williams and Make, comes almost a quarter of a century after the first office blocks were built in the area. As well as 74 studios at £395,000, there will be 115 one-bedroom apartments with prices starting from £495,000, 141 two-bedroom apartments from £795,000 and 15 three-bedroom apartments from £1.295m.Residents will automatically be given membership to an on-site health and fitness club which includes a swimming pool and a state-of-the-art gym. Construction on the project begins later this year, with the first phase set to complete in 2019.
The Wharf (24/06/2015) Evening Standard (23/06/2015)
26th June 2015
Lord Rogers has launched a campaign to stop the demolition of a brutalist housing estate which he believes is a "masterpiece" in the same league as St Paul's Cathedral. The architect said that he would "absolutely" live in Robin Hood Gardens in Poplar, east London and has been described as "ill-planned to the point of inhumane". He argues instead that the two concrete blocks, which were built in 1972 and provide 213 flats linked by "streets in the sky" are not ugly but "extremely interesting" and "great architecture". The blocks are scheduled to be demolished to make way for new housing as part of the Blackwall Reach regeneration plan.
The Times (20/06/2015)
26th June 2015
The City of London Corporation, which is landlord to 2,000 households, plans to increase its stock of housing by a third by constructing new homes on its existing estates. The City Corporation built most of its housing estates in areas such as Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Lambeth between the 1920s and the 1960s. It intends to extend those estates as well as looking at how to add housing to its other landholdings, which include Hampstead Heath and Epping Forest. The Corporation’s new homes will be for sale or rent at market rates, meaning they will not need any public subsidy.
Financial Times (26/06/2015)
26th June 2015
The Evening Standard notes that Zone 2 districts ringing central London's most expensive areas are riding high as home buyers seek cheaper, yet well connected postcodes. A recent study places Bethnal Green top of its list of best value for money areas in Zone 2. Prices are 40% cheaper than the Zone 2 average, while travelling time to the main employment centres is just eight minutes. Holloway, Caledonian Road and Finsbury Park are regarded as the Zone 2 areas with the best potential, and New Cross is highlighted as the best Zone 2 area for transport.
Evening Standard, Homes & Property (25/06/2015)
26th June 2015
Seasonally-adjusted figures from HMRC show that a total of 98,540 homes were sold in May, down 3% on a year earlier. Meanwhile, the figures showed that the first nine months of 2014 saw property being sold at the fastest rate since before the financial crisis. Some 1.7m homes were sold in 2006, at the height of the property boom. This fell to 848,000 in 2009, but rose to 1.2m last year.
BBC News (26/06/2015)3