Potential for 200,000 new homes in the East of London
Last Thursday (22 October) brought a significant announcement from the Mayor’s Office about the release of a new framework called ‘City in the East’ that aims to transform East London by delivering more than 200,000 homes and 250,000 new jobs. The masterplan details how major development should take place across a strip of land that reaches from London Bridge to the Isle of Dogs and Greenwich Peninsula, right through to Ilford in Essex and Dartford in Kent.
The area identified will link 12 existing Opportunity Areas for housing. The announcement demonstrates the rising importance of East London in terms of its capacity to deliver new homes for the capital. In 2004, the Mayor’s Office estimated East London had the capacity for “52,000 new homes”. But the GLA has now revised its predictions to suggest that a “minimum of 203,500 homes and 283,300 jobs could be delivered over the next 20 years.”
The masterplan aims to feed into transport developments in East London such as Crossrail, HS1 and the extension of the London Overground line further eastwards.
Sadiq Khan's aspirations for London
Sadiq Khan, Labour’s London mayoral candidate, has outlined his plans if elected in 2016. Khan’s housing plan includes providing affordable housing through rent-to-buy schemes and fair rental prices. Khan said: “I’m going to say to developers - from now on, at least half of all new homes should be genuinely affordable. Either with a social rent, or with a London living rent and for first time buyers.” His housing plan also includes tackling the issue of rogue landlords; by naming and shaming them.
Cheaper and more reliable transport, increased safety for cyclists and Wi-Fi on public transport are all part of Khan’s plans for the capital. Discussing his plans for transport, Khan said: “We’re also going to invest in public transport. We want two Crossrails – one from east to west and another north to south. It will speed up connections. We’re also thinking about extending tram services and the Bakerloo Line.”
Khan says he will make improving air quality a top priority; by expanding the proposed ultra-low emissions zone, opposing Heathrow expansion and promoting cycling and walking. His other environmental plans include promoting community energy generation projects, backing London’s growing low carbon business sector and creating world class green spaces; by supporting the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street and the National Park City initiative. Khan has declared his desire to be “the greenest mayor we’ve ever had.” This could be perhaps a hostage to fortune.
Chinese firm revives £1.7bn Royal Albert Dock project
A major Chinese contractor will build ABP’s £1.7bn Royal Albert Dock development in east London, it has been confirmed. CITIC Construction, part of CITIC Group, signed a deal with ABP in the presence of President Xi Jinping of China and Prime Minister David Cameron at Mansion House as part of the official state visit to the UK last week.
The 4.7m sq ft development is set to create up to 30,000 new jobs and could be worth as much as £6bn to the UK economy. The new joint-venture will hold 25 per cent of shares in ABP London Investment Holding Ltd, making the project the biggest real-estate development delivered by a Chinese construction company in this country and CITIC Construction’s first UK project.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: “This landmark agreement represents significant progress as we work towards transforming Royal Albert Dock into a thriving new centre of trade and investment.” He also said: “This exciting development will act as a beacon for eastern investors looking west, bringing with it tens of thousands of jobs and billions of pounds of investment for the UK economy.”
ABP founder and chairman Xu Weiping said: “As the Sino-UK relationship has entered the ‘golden era’, the bilateral exchanges have never been stronger, and this cooperation between ABP and CITIC is a perfect example of this ‘golden era’."
Ambitious plans from TfL for 10,000 new homes
The capital’s transport system has announced plans to build homes as well as provide transit in London. TfL believes it can add 10,000 homes in London on more than 300 acres of land it owns across 75 sites. It could create 10million sq ft of development in the next decade, with an attractive 67 per cent of the sites in zones one and two.
As one of London’s largest landowners, TfL is in the process of selecting a shortlist of partners to build housing on these allocated sites. Potential sites include South Kensington, London Road, Kidbrook and Borough stations. This also includes TfL’s headquarters at 55 Broadway, the art deco Grade I listed building and London’s ‘first skyscraper’. There will also be larger regeneration schemes in urban centres such as Northwood, brownfield developments in Hanworth Road in Hounslow, and schemes over stations and depots such as Southwark and Parson's Green.
TfL is placing an emphasis on working with local authorities to help meet their needs for affordable housing. Jonathan Cornelius, head of property development at TfL said: “We have to work hand in hand to get planning permission. [But] not all the sites are straightforward, often they're above operational sites, and will be complex and expensive to develop, so a balance has got be stuck in recouping the costs of bringing the sites forward for development.”
The scheme is part of a wider ambition of the organisation to raise £3.4bn in revenue over the next 10 years from advertising, sponsorship partnerships and property development.
JBP's Mayoral Watch
- Sadiq Khan has written an open letter to London’s businesses, calling on them to engage with his campaign and shape his policy positions
- Ivan Massow, the failed London Conservative mayoral candidate, has announced that he will be assisting Zac Goldsmith in his campaign