I was a bit in short supply last week having come down with the lurgy (although not, it would seem, of the piggy variety). In an attempt to catch up this morning, while looking out at the desolate weather (and seriously wondering whether I suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder, or perhaps just post-viral depression), I switched on my machine to receive my first email, sent this morning, entitled "Parking Demand Study for South Kilburn".
Oh untrammelled joy.
Sometimes it feels like there is a mountain to climb.
Speaking at his recent Housing Investment Summit, Boris Johnson lamented the "failure to build enough family homes in the good times", and my parallel thought-process - not just for South Kilburn but for the entire UK - (and a recurring theme of my life at the moment - and I'm sorry if it's boring you all) is our complete failure to get traction on the regeneration industry in the years when the money was flowing.
With the benefit of hindsight, this is a pretty unforgivable, nay heinous, sin. And it is not yet clear what - if anything - we can do to redeem the situation.
Boris has spoken recently about the need to address a time when public funding, whether from HCA or elsewhere, can no longer step into the breach (and some may think this is a good thing: certainly, when the public at large see some of the really dreadful schemes that have been enabled by the £144m which has gone into the Kickstart programme in greater London, we may well have an insurrection on our hands!).
I understand (from Stewart Jackson himself) that the HCA will not be disbanded under a Conservative government, and I guess, in an uncertain world, this is some certainty (of sorts). And I am encouraged by Boris launching his "Stalingrad defence" for London funding - whoever's in government. I'm just hoping that we can make the case for South Kilburn, despite the fact that we missed the boat when the money was flowing.
The mayor is responsible for drafting a statutory housing strategy for London and for directing the use of London's housing resources and making recommendations to central government on investment issues in London.
We will be working hard to ensure that South Kilburn is well up the list of priorities. SK is still a great opportunity, uniquely needing no funding for transport infrastructure (it being a veritable hub already) - an advantage we need to stress more.
Boris is quoted as saying "we're on the verge of the answer" as to what to do when banks won't lend and margins are too great for developers. Now this is more like it: brand new models please, not attempts to repair the old, discredited ones!
I fully anticipate that this may be some form of the Private Rented Sector Initiative (PRSI) and would have though South Kilburn would make for an ideal pilot. Are you listening, market?
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