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12th June 2015
The London mayoral hopeful David Lammy has criticised the Labour party for its “timid and vague” approach to housing. The Labour MP for Tottenham accused mayoral rivals of “making grand promises to continue to tinker around the edges” while the situation in the capital got worse. He set out his own plans, which include issuing £10bn of London Housing Bonds to build 30,000 new social homes. Fellow Labour mayoral contender Sadiq Khan also set out his plans to boost house-building. He said 50% of all new developments should be affordable homes, and that pension funds should invest in infrastructure.
Evening Standard (05/06/2015)
12th June 2015
Boris Johnson is expected to announce today that the last main piece of London owned by City Hall is to be turned into 2,000 homes and a new railway station. The 29-hectare Beam Park site in Dagenham, east London, includes plans for the first new station in London since Stratford International opened in 2011. Richard Blakeway, deputy mayor for housing and land, said the scheme would create “a new locus of jobs, activity and growth”. Some 35% of the proposed homes will be for sale or rent at below market rates.
Financial Times (09/06/2015)
12th June 2015
A team of researchers have produced "smellscapes" of London and Barcelona, maps that show the different scents of areas in different colours. A member of the research group, Daniele Quercia, says that: "The goal of our work is to open up a new stream of research that celebrates the positive role smell plays in city life".
The Guardian (08/06/2015)
5th June 2015
A new development has been announced on the Isle of Dogs: Millharbour Village, a six-acre site alongside South Dock, just south of Canary Wharf. Developer Galliard Homes plans to build a six-tower “vertical village” of 1,500 new homes, with over a quarter earmarked as affordable. Designed by award-winning architects Studio Egret West and Hawkins Brown, the tallest building in the project will stand 45 storeys high, at 481ft, just three feet shorter than the nearby Pan Peninsula tower. Uniquely, it will have around 4,000sq ft of aerial playground space for children, created on the rooftops of two of the skyscrapers. The mixed use development, set to be given the green light by Tower Hamlets council, will be a mixed use scheme including restaurants, cafés and offices. Elsewhere on the Isle, Berkeley Homes has acquired a site next to South Quay Plaza, where it plans to build a 210m tower, just 10m shorter than its neighbouring 68 storey residential skyscraper. The new project will add around 450 apartments and 20,000 sq ft of retail space to the existing plans.
Evening Standard (03/06/2015) Construction Enquirer (04/06/2015)
5th June 2015
The £3.7bn regeneration of Canning Town and Custom House continues apace, with the third phase of Rathbone Street Market beginning to take shape. ECf Development director Duncan Cumberland said: “This phase represents the next piece in the jigsaw for Rathbone Market and will put Canning Town firmly back on the map as a residential destination in East London”. The latest release contains 216 homes spread across a series of tower blocks, divided between 162 privately-owned properties and 54 affordable.
The Wharf (03/06/2015)
5th June 2015
The latest official figures show that the average house price grew 0.9% between March and April to reach £179,817 in England and Wales.In the last year, this represents growth of 5.1%, the lowest annual rise in 14 months, according to the Land Registry data.As a region, London experienced the greatest increase in property values over the last 12 months with prices up 10.9% on average.The North East is the only region to see prices fall in the last year, with prices decreasing by 0.6%.
Financial Times (02/06/2015)