LDN Weekly – Issue 61 – 23 January 2019
KHAN HE DO IT?
It’s been a busy week for the Greater London Authority (GLA), as the London Plan’s Examination in Public (EiP) gathers steam and the Mayor has made a number of significant planning decisions.
No Images? Click here KHAN HE DO IT?It’s been a busy week for the Greater London Authority (GLA), as the London Plan’s Examination in Public (EiP) gathers steam and the Mayor has made a number of significant planning decisions.Meanwhile, in the last few hours, the Mayor has launched his campaign for a ‘London Model’ of renting in the private sector. But it’s not just about City Hall for us! We also take a look at planning and development stories in Kensington & Chelsea, Lambeth, Westminster and elsewhere, as well as people moves across sectors. As always, we’d love to hear your feedback and do follow us on Twitter and Instagram if you don’t already. Also, feel free to visit our website for more information on LCA’s team, services, and clients. GLA HOUSINGSadiq has today announced that he will develop a ‘new blueprint for stabilising or controlling private rents in the capital’ – and the Guardian’s remarkably prompt report on the matter suggests that this will be ‘the key plank of his 2020 re-election bid’. He will lobby the government to award him the powers he needs to drive through this and other reforms. The Mayor has long promised to pursue a rehaul of existing regulations and hinted that he would seek such powers. We will unpick the details of his pledge in next week’s edition. Last week, the Mayor also launched a new fund to support the delivery of community-led housing. While the pot of funding and its impact on housing delivery are relatively small – the £38m facility is ‘expected to unlock 500 community-led homes by 2023’ – such efforts are crucial to diversifying the sources of London’s housing supply, as well as building the capacity of small housebuilders. LONDON PLAN EiPThis is Week 2 of the new London Plan’s EiP and the process is beginning to address the nuts-and-bolts of the Mayor’s policies.
Next week it’s all housing, with three sessions set to discuss the new London Plan’s relevant requirements, the Mayor’s housing strategy, as well as the housing delivery targets and assumptions about housing supply. GLA PLANNINGBut the EiP is far from the only interesting planning news emanating from City Hall in the past week:
GAME ONWestminster City Council has granted conditional permission for the redevelopment of Lord’s Cricket Ground’s Edrich and Compton stands, to provide an additional 2,500 seats to the ‘home of cricket’. The plans still require the approval of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which is set to make a decision at its AGM in May. Assuming the plans are also approved by the Mayor – who had previously expressed reservations in response to the plans’ Stage 1 referral back in December – and the completion of a section 106 agreement, work on the stands is set to begin at the end of August, to be completed by the summer of 2021. Slightly further afield, Luton Council’s Development Control Committee granted planning permission for Luton Town FC’s new 23,000 seat stadium, which will also see 550 homes, bars, restaurants, a hotel and an entertainment venue built on the current brownfield site. The approval is subject to call-in by the secretary of state and the meeting of several planning conditions. NHS PROPERTYEstates Gazette has reported that Canary Wharf Group, Landsec and Stanhope have been shortlisted for second-round bids to become the Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity’s development partner on the mixed-use redevelopment of a five-acre, £200m site near St Thomas’ Hospital and Waterloo Station. Meanwhile, at the last Mayor’s Question Time session Sadiq mentioned another key NHS site in London which has been earmarked for redevelopment. In response to a question by Labour AM Leonie Cooper, the Mayor said that the GLA and partners are moving ahead with plans for the St Ann’s Hospital site in Haringey. He said that his housing team ‘will be publishing the tender pack to procure a developer next month’. A TALE OF TWO SILVERTOWNSGLA Land & Property alongside Keystone have submitted their plans for a Docklands scheme on the site of the former Carlsberg Brewery in Silvertown. The proposals comprise the construction of 5,000 homes, as well as work, retail and commercial space, a new primary school and a DLR station on the 40-acre site. The regeneration will also see the creation of two new parks and a river walkway, as well as offer residents the opportunity to commute by boat - while the area will also, eventually, be served by Crossrail. The GLA and Keystone hope to be granted planning permission for the first phase of the project by the summer. Meanwhile, Indian billionaire Dr Subhash Chandra has launched a High Court claim over his plans for a separate scheme called Silvertown Quays. The nearby site is currently being redeveloped by a joint venture between the GLA, Lendlease and Starwood which will see 3,000 homes built there, as well as commercial and retail space. Dr Chandra’s claims that when Lendlease and Starwood took over the project from the GLA’s previous partners, he was not given the opportunity to ‘take part in a fair and transparent tender process’. His own proposals pledged to deliver 3,500 homes, as well as a ‘peace park’ comprised of a cultural centre with space for activities such as dance, yoga and meditation. FROM THE CHAMBERAt the latest Mayor’s Question Time, Sadiq faced a particularly tough line of questioning from Green Party AM Sian Berry, on the performance of his ‘first dibs’ initiative. Launched in February, but activated sometime during the summer, the scheme involves ‘over 40 housebuilders’ voluntarily committing to restrict the marketing and sale of new build homes in the capital (specifically homes worth up to £350,000 and Help to Buy Homes), to UK buyers for the first three months, with a ‘head start’ of a month for Londoners, through the Mayor’s Homes for Londoners portal. While over 1,000 Help to Buy homes and 23 ‘first dibs’ homes have been advertised on the portal so far, the Mayor was unable to say how many of these have actually been bought by Londoners. While Sadiq promised a fuller account of the scheme’s performance following a review to take place next year, he declined to confirm whether this would be available before the May 2020 Mayoral elections. PEOPLE MOVES
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