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12th June 2015
The Times includes a guide to the best ten places in the UK to buy a first home. Ranking top of the list is Stratford, which is due to be reclassified as London zone 2/3 rather than just zone 3, which will mean cheaper transport links for commuters. Apart from its proximity to central London, it is emerging as a destination in its own right; the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is already a well-established attraction, and it will soon play host to a new cultural quarter, planned in association with the V&A and Sadler’s Wells. One-bedroom apartments in a new-build, high-spec development start at £400,000, but bargains can be found from £330,000 in buildings just five years younger.
The Times (12/06/2015)
12th June 2015
Housing minister Brandon Lewis used his first official speech since being reappointed as a minister at the communities department after the election to call for the demolition and redevelopment of council estates across London. He said that politicians "cannot overlook the need to regenerate inner city areas" which are "dominated by high-rise concrete blocks from the 1960s and 70s". His comments echo those of Lord Adonis, who recently said that local authorities should knock down council housing on brownfield land to build "mixed communities" that would function as "city villages". Mr Lewis also announced £250m for the delivery of private rented accommodation in London, with 903 out of 1,353 homes to be built for private rent in Stratford’s Olympic Village.
Financial Times (11/06/2015) Estates Gazette (10/06/2015)
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)