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Em Morley

Nine Elms in London is One of the Largest Regeneration Projects in Europe

Published On: May 15, 2015 at 12:41 pm

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Nine Elms and Vauxhall in central London are being transformed into a new cultural quarter. Plans for one of the largest regeneration projects in Europe were revealed this week.

Developers are hoping to tackle beliefs that the riverside area lacks personality and community. 18,000 homes are to be built here within the next ten years.

Some worry that the area will become an investor’s paradise and house transient tenants. However, city planners have developed the project to be a new neighbourhood and urban designers are making plans for how the district could grow.

Cultural placemaking

This process is called cultural placemaking and includes the arts as an intrinsic part of the area. It is hoped that residents will be involved and feel part of the community.

Top quality architects are designing the area with luxury buildings, linking it to the recently developed Battersea Power Station. Public spaces will feature arts and community, with theatre, events, markets and exhibitions.

The Battersea developer has appointed a director of design and placemaking, David Twohig, to create a plan for cultural events. He says: “The spaces in between the buildings are as important as the buildings themselves.”1 

Circus West is the first residential section of the power station and includes a modern village hall. The original boiler house and control room will be cultural spots.

The Royal College of Art’s Battersea campus is a recent addition and will have an artistic influence on Lambeth and Wandsworth. The college is partnered with developer St James at StudioRCA, located at the Riverlight apartment complex at Nine Elms. Homes here start at £800,000.

Damien Hirst is also opening a space in this area, the Newport Street Gallery, which will include the artist’s personal collection of 2,000 pieces, including work by Banksy.

The gallery will open this summer and is a renovation of listed warehouses where Hirst works. It will occupy a whole street, which was once a rundown area. Now, these parts are changing quickly and attracting hipsters to cheaper loft apartments.

Nine Elms in London is One of the Largest Regeneration Projects in Europe

Nine Elms in London is One of the Largest Regeneration Projects in Europe

However, a nearby fine art storage warehouse owned by auction house Christie’s is being refurbished into The Residence, which will include 510 homes. 76 of these are available on a shared-ownership basis and are considered affordable.

Charles Asprey’s Cabinet Gallery is also due to open this year.

The new Barbican

Some believe Nine Elms will become the new Barbican, however, it would be more navigable with a linear park linking the individual elements; 29 sites over 482 acres. A comprehensive culture trail will mark out the district. A route will also connect Lambeth to Vauxhall Cross.

Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens is a restoration project of a Victorian venue, and will host outdoor cinema screenings in summer and open a temporary ice rink in wintertime. A new pedestrian bridge will connect residents to areas across the River Thames.

Within Lambeth, Fentiman Road has four-storey Victorian properties popular with professionals from the City. Lilian Baylis Old School is a listed 1960s teaching block, which has been turned into good-sized apartments.

Lambeth Walk’s Victorian streets were spoiled in the 1970s by redevelopment. Now, areas are being revived and small businesses are moving into shop fronts. Accommodation above the shops will soon be available.

Manmade creativity

It is wondered, however, if such a creative atmosphere can be manmade. The developers are building relationships with the arts, but can more than profit be created?

Lifelong local resident Bridget Wright, 58, says: “I suppose patrons are okay, but we don’t want to be patronised. A lot of snooty typed from across the river in Chelsea are turning up and we are already seeing prices moving beyond what many locals can afford.”1

Developers are required to make financial contributions and improvements to the local area when given planning permission. Within Nine Elms, two new schools will be built alongside health care centres. The Northern line extension was also part of the selling factor of this area.

Futurecity is a placemaking agency focusing on culture. Mark Davy, founder of the firm, is in the middle of the debate. The company has 30 developer clients and 100 projects in progress in London and the South East.

He says: “In the past, creative neighbourhoods were in so-called downtown areas with cheap industrial space and bad transport links, but the success of new developments built around the arts, such as King’s Cross, has persuaded the private sector to invest in culture.

“Often, it’s about making creative use of an existing budget. London is moving from a capital city traditionally defined by the financial sector, to one defined by the creative and knowledge sectors.”1

Davy believes culture brings all the elements that make a modern city.

1 http://www.homesandproperty.co.uk/property-news/new-homes/londons-nine-elms-europes-biggest-regeneration-zone-18000-new-homes-damien-hirst-gallery-and

London no longer top region for house price growth

Published On: May 15, 2015 at 11:29 am

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Figures released today have indicated that house prices in East Anglia and the south-east are rising at a quicker rate than those in London.

Data from the LSL/Acadata house price index shows that London is not the front-runner in regional house price growth for the first time in the past four and a half years. However, it must be noted that the index for April could contain figures conduced from the pre-election slowdown.

Decline

Statistics from the report indicate that sales were down by 10% in the first-quarter of 2015, with election uncertainty the likely cause. House purchase mortgage approvals were also down by nearly 2% year-on-year to April.

London no longer top region for house price growth

London no longer top region for house price growth

Acadata suggests that the average house price in England and Wales is actually at a new high of £275,961.[1]

South-East rise

In the South East of England, the annual price inflation for property is now 7.1%. East Anglia recorded a figure of 6.9%, whereas London’s annual inflation is only 6.8%.[1]

Peter Williams, analyst at Acadata, said that, ‘we don’t know at this stage if the decline in London’s dominant position will be reversed now that the results of the general election are known.’ He feels that now the uncertainty of an impending mansion tax has been removed, the market should return to strength.

However, Williams noted that, ‘the Chancellor’s 12% SDLT rate on properties costing in excess of £1.5m remains in place.’ He believes that,’ ‘this may be one of the main causes of the current slowdown in property sales in prime central London.’ More positively, Mr Williams went on to say that, ‘all the evidence suggests that generally, confidence in the housing market will increase, so a more buoyant market across England and Wales is likely.’[1]

[1] http://linkis.com/com/H8Luy

 

Commuters from Surrey and Sussex See House Price Values Grow

Published On: May 15, 2015 at 11:24 am

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Towns and villages in Surrey and Sussex are experiencing healthy price rises as Londoners are priced out of the capital’s housing market.

These are popular commuter spots for those travelling to Victoria or London Bridge. Past Gatwick Airport, but still within an hour of central London, there are ten spots on the route to choose from.

Savills estate agent found that addresses in Surrey, namely Redhill, Earlswood and Salfords, have experienced steady annual price growth. The average property price here is £312,258.

Redhill

Redhill is not the prettiest of places in Surrey, but is scheduled a £50m renovation to the station, including a town square, shops and new homes. Buyers will be delighted at Redhill’s speedy commute; trains to London take just 35 minutes and an annual season ticket costs £2,672.

Commuters from Surrey and Sussex See House Price Values Grow

Commuters from Surrey and Sussex See House Price Values Grow

Redhill also has good primary and secondary schools, such as the Warwick School and Saint Bede’s School.

The town lacks period properties, but has plenty of affordable new builds and post-war homes in the suburbs.

A negotiator at Connells Residential, Will Norris, says that buyers in this area are often young couples wanting a two-bedroom flat for between £200,000-£240,000. Buyers looking for a four-bedroom house will pay £450,000+ and those looking for period features are better suited to nearby Earlswood. Detached Victorian and Edwardian homes there are around £400,000.

Haywards Heath

Haywards Heath and adjacent Lindfield are good options for those looking to live in West Sussex. Both are south of the Sussex Weald and are close to the South East’s picturesque countryside.

Haywards Heath is 44 minutes from London on the train and an annual season ticket is £3,808. The average home costs £315,483 and rose just 3.1% in the last year, but 15.6% since 2007.

A director at Savills, Sophie Wysock-Wright predicts that four in ten London buyers would like a family home.

Within the town, Lucastes Avenue and its nearby roads are perfect for families. Just west of the station, a detached four-bedroom 1920s house costs between £650,000-£750,000. Closer to the station are three-bedroom Victorian cottages at £350,000.

Lindfield is a 15-minute walk from Haywards Heath station and has period houses, an ancient church and pond area. Buyers will pay between £450,000-£550,000 for a three-bedroom Victorian semi-detached property.

Burgess Hill

In West Sussex, but closer to the South Downs is Burgess Hill. A train to London takes 52 minutes and an annual season ticket is £3,808.

Branch manager of Fox & Sons, Peter Bushell, says that the shops and restaurants aren’t as good as in Haywards Heath, but commuters adding ten minutes to their journey will gain an extra bedroom or a detached home. Residents can also get to Brighton in 20 minutes by car.

Crescent Road, Park Road and Silverdale Road all have great Victorian, Edwardian and 1930s semi-detached houses, costing around £400,000.

A lot of properties here were built post-war, and a three-bedroom 1960s home costs about £300,000.

 

Office space in London commanding record rents

Published On: May 15, 2015 at 10:20 am

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The record-breaking central London office rents show no sign of slowing down. As such, one of the UK’s largest landlords has posted a substantial rise in the value of its properties, alongside a huge rise in net asset share.

Rising returns

British Land posted a 12.1% increase in the total value of its portfolio, with a 20.5% increase in net asset per share. This took the overall value of the company’s portfolio to a £13.6bn, with much of the growth attributed to offices during the past year.

The organisation completed and opened its signature Cheesegrater tower in the summer of last year and how now successfully rented out 84% of the structure’s 47 floors. One group, Affinity Shipping, is paying British Land £90 per square foot of space, thought to be a record-breaking amount.

This record amount is a signal that space in the capital is an increasing premium. According to a recent survey from Knight Frank, the cost of an office space within a London skyscraper grew by 7.7% over the last year, meaning that it became the fourth most-expensive city in the world for high-rise rents.[1]

Office space in London commanding record rents

Office space in London commanding record rents

More to come

Chief executive of British Land, Chris Grigg, said that the Cheesegrater tower was just one of a number of proposed developments in the capital. Grigg said that, ‘we have got other irons in the fire. We are happy to continue to develop, but we don’t happen to have a tower project at the moment, particularly given the price of land.’[2]

Grigg feels that the outcome of the election, nor the impending EU referdum, has not put the brakes on demand for central London office space, stating, ‘do I think it’s having an impact on the market at the moment? No, but could that change? Of course.’[3]

British Land recently paid £135m to secure the remaining land on a 46-acre regeneration plot at the site formerly owned by Canada Water. The firm hopes to construct a town centre on the site, complete with shops, offices and homes. Additionally, British Land juggled its existing portfolio, selling off more than £900m worth of assets. This included a property swap deal with Tesco that enabled the company to refocus its supermarket holdings in the South of England.

It was not all good news. The company lost out to Land Securities in their attempt to secure a stake in Bluewater shopping centre last summer. Grigg however was bullish in his response to losing out on the investment, as he felt the £656m paid was too much. Grigg said, ‘we were happy to miss it at that price to be clear. That’s the nature of our business, we need to have capital discipline.’[4]

With underlying pre-tax profits rising 5.4% to £313m over the last year, it seems that British Land can afford to lose out on the occasional deal.

[1-4] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/constructionandproperty/11605781/Office-space-race-in-London-sends-British-Land-to-greater-heights.html

 

Aristocrat Claimed £18k in Benefits While Renting Out £1.1m London Home

Published On: May 15, 2015 at 10:13 am

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An aristocrat has been charged with claiming £18,000 in housing and Council Tax benefits while renting out her £1.1m London property to tenants.

Vera-Brigitte Bilek Von Sternberg, born in Vienna, is accused of keeping a bank account secret and stating the tenants were her friends and family.

Vera-Brigitte, of Notting Hill, said she was not guilty when appearing at Hammersmith Magistrates’ Court this week.

She is a freelance arts and performing arts critic and daughter of a former Cultural Attaché to the Middle East. She moved to Chelsea in 1990 with her daughter.

Vera-Brigitte became a head of department at two educational institutions. She is also a member of Chelsea Old Church and has been elected onto the boards of charitable trusts as a fundraiser.

She was bailed to appear at Isleworth Crown Court for a preliminary hearing on 26th May after the court declined jurisdiction due to the severity of the case.

All of the money Vera-Brigitte owed has been returned to the local authority. She is charged with two counts of fraud by false representation.

It is believed that on 17th September 2009 and 13th July 2011, Vera-Brigitte made a false representation in a housing benefit and Council Tax benefit application for Ivy Cottage in West Brompton. She said that she had no bank account. In fact, Vera-Brigitte had a Barclays account.

She is also charged with making a false representation on 4th February 2013 when she claimed for benefits on the same property by informing the council she did not have subtenants, just guests.

Vera-Brigitte claimed to have no income besides Pension Credit and Disability Living Allowance (DLA), however, she had a number of tenants who paid rent between 16th September 2012 and 18th September 2013.

She also faces two counts of dishonesty for failing to notify a change in circumstances; she was renting out two homes on Uverdale Road between 2012-13.

Furthermore, she is charged with dishonesty for failing to inform the council that she had a tenancy agreement with Anchor Trust and had moved out of Ivy Cottage into her current home.

Property Prices Rise Due to Lack of Supply

Published On: May 15, 2015 at 9:50 am

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The greatest lack of supply of homes for sale in the UK in almost six years has fuelled property price increases in the past month, found new research.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) revealed that every region of the UK has experienced price rises, and that one cause of this could have been uncertainty ahead of the general election. However, the organisation believes there are “deeper underlying problems” regarding the shortage.

In its survey of members, the RICS discovered that a net balance of -21% reported a drop in new instructions and 33% more surveyors saw price increases in April, up from 22% in March.

Additionally, the balance of those studied that reported price growth was positive in every UK region for the first time since August 2014, as prices in London rose again after being stable for a few months.

28% more surveyors witnessed prices in London increase, compared with 6% more in March who saw prices drop. With fewer homes up for sale, agreed purchases were at -3%.

Property Prices Rise Due to Lack of Supply

Property Prices Rise Due to Lack of Supply

The RICS report expects house prices to increase by 2.7% around the UK in the next year, as 72% of respondents predict price rises.

This data will add pressure onto the Conservative Government, which has the task of building more homes. April’s decline in new instructions was the sharpest since May 2009.

Head of Policy at RICS, Jeremy Blackburn, says that the affordability and availability of properties in the UK is now a “national emergency” and the Government need to make it an urgent issue.

“The last time we were building 300,000 homes was in 1963 under Harold Macmillan’s Conservative government, which utilised both public and private building,”1 Blackburn notes.

Private developer construction is now below the long-term average, however, local authority house building is the main problem causing a shortage of homes.

Before the election result was revealed, Chief Economist at RICS, Simon Rubinsohn, commented: “It is conceivable that the decisive outcome to the election could encourage a pick-up in instructions to agents and ease some of the recent upward pressure on house prices, but it is doubtful that this will be substantive enough to provide anything more than temporary relief.

“Alongside an increased flow of second hand stock, it is absolutely critical that the new government focuses on measures to boost the flow of new build.”1 

Furthermore, surveyors are expecting rents to continue increasing, as tenant demand grew in all UK regions in the three months to April, found RICS. Its report predicts rents will rise by around 5% every year for the next five years.

The report claims: “The downward trend in owner-occupation rates across the country is a visible sign that affordability constraints bite ever deeper, as does the squeeze on household budgets from higher rents.”1 

The report reflects recent research from mortgage provider Halifax, which reported a 1.6% increase in property prices in April. The bank also stated the rise is due to the lack of supply of homes for sale.

The average house price in Britain was a record high of £196,412 in April, up £3,084 from March, when prices grew by a slower monthly rate of 0.6%.

Property price growth has steadied since the second half of 2014, however prices were 8.5% higher than last year in the three months to April. This was 8.1% in the three months to March, Halifax found.

However, high-end estate agents expect prices to increase even further, after wealthy buyers returned to the housing market after the election.

1 http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-3080058/Surveyors-report-biggest-shortage-homes-sale-nearly-six-years-pushing-house-prices-higher.html