November 2011 Archives

The Homes and Communities Agency published figures earlier this week that have been seized upon by the media suggesting failings in how many units are being built.

The shadow housing secretary Jack Dromey spotted the 97% drop in HCA funded affordable homes, from 13,402 to just 454, and the national media has repeated the statistic in various places:

• Channel 4 News
• BBC News
• Guardian

The reality is happily rather less apocalyptic, and Mr Dromey should perhaps be reprimanded for using statistics like a drunk uses a lampost - for support rather than illumination.

A quick call to the helpful people at the HCA reveals the massive discrepancy in figures is a result of a change in the way the funding's distributed. This year the majority of the units being built will be funded by slightly different means, meaning most of the units simply haven't been counted rather than are not being built.

London Residential Research statistics (based on members of the team travelling round London and looking at the sites to see if construction has begun) suggest that something in the region of 4,500 units have been started in London alone for the time period in question - this is what prompted the call to the HCA.

Obviously we're still in the grip of a not insignificant housing crisis, but happily it's not going to be 100 times worse at the end of the year as some would have you believe. 

I came across this yesterday whilst stuck in traffic in Dalston, and had to take a picture.

Now farm and shop are two words that don't necessarily go together a lot of the time. Maybe out in the countryside, next to actual farms but not in central London next to Dalston Junction train station.

Once a derelict shop, this site on Dalston Lane is now the world's first urban farming hub - a workspace, cafe and events venue packed to the rafters with living and breathing food, literally a farm in a shop.

I must say, what a great use of redundant space, check out the farm: shop site here.  

Only yesterday was I reading in the Guardian that in the Netherlands the average size of a new-build dwelling is 115sqm and in Japan it is 92.5sqm, while in the UK it is just 76sqm.

We have become accustomed to paying ridiculously large amounts of money for poorly built and tiny homes. England and Wales are the only countries in the EU with no national space standards. That is the simple reason why we build the smallest homes with the smallest rooms, which might give some indication as to why Londoners appear to be creating extra space in imaginative ways...

We recently blogged about pod living and how some were so inspired they popped down to their local Homebase, bought a garden shed and stuck it on their roof. See the evidence here and here.

Well, it looks as though the concept is spreading. I came across this yesterday in Stamford Hill, whilst site visiting. This is a 13-unit scheme on Clapton Common, completed back in 2002. However the 4 large balconies appear to have what looks like a garden shed (actually just some mdf nailed together), creating an extra room. Some have even put windows in, covered with plastic perspex to let in sunlight.

I wonder what Hackney Council think of it? I can't see any plans on Hackney's website (as if their would be plans for it), however permission was granted this year for the 'erection of a part single storey and part two storey side extension and two storey rear extension', as if the balcony/room wasn't enough.

You can imagine it being advertised for rent as having a 'winter garden'. Come May you could take it down for the summer months and up it goes again in September. The thing is when the council do eventually come knocking to tell you to take it down, it takes 5 minutes to de-assemble, has cost you very little and comes with a slap on the wrist. What's the betting someone initiated it, then others around them thought well if their doing it, then I'm doing it.   

Regular readers to this blog will probably have a keen interest in architecture, planning, economics and sustainability as well as everything in between (along with the London residential market of course). With that, I recommend the film 'Urbanized', the third part of Gary Hustwit's design film trilogy. Having been shown at film festivals across North America and the rest of the world, it comes to London next month, with a week long run starting from the 16th of December at The Barbican.

Here's the trailer... 

and here's the films blurb...

Urbanized is a feature-length documentary about the design of cities, which looks at the issues and strategies behind urban design and features some of the world's foremost architects, planners, policymakers, builders, and thinkers. Over half the world's population now lives in an urban area, and 75% will call a city home by 2050. But while some cities are experiencing explosive growth, others are shrinking. The challenges of balancing housing, mobility, public space, civic engagement, economic development, and environmental policy are fast becoming universal concerns. Yet much of the dialogue on these issues is disconnected from the public domain.

Who is allowed to shape our cities, and how do they do it? Unlike many other fields of design, cities aren't created by any one specialist or expert. There are many contributors to urban change, including ordinary citizens who can have a great impact improving the cities in which they live. By exploring a diverse range of urban design projects around the world, Urbanized frames a global discussion on the future of cities. 

An iconic building in Ireland is for sale at £37m.

Grant Thornton, acting on behalf of Ulster Bank, has appointed Savills to sell The Alliance Building in the Gasworks­ development in Ringsend,­ Dublin 4. The asking price reflects a 7.25% yield.

Why is it iconic? well, the development was created on the site where an old gas holder once stood. The original frame was retained and a new structure was created in the centre.

image courtesy of Architecture Revived  

image courtesy of Architecture Revived

image courtesy of Irish Times

Another example of gas living can be found at Gasometer City in Austria. At this scheme, the architects actually retained the main internal structures of these 19th century gas tanks.

 image courtesy of Architecture Revived

image courtesy of Wikipedia

image courtesy of Wikipedia

And finally, gas living is also planned for right here in London, at the new King's Cross regeneration project, which is being under taken by Argent Group.

image courtesy of Argent Group

Here on The Pint of Milk Test we have blogged alot about gas holders in the past.

click here, click here, click here, click here and click here 

Have a look at this picture, looks like a normal living room, sofa, flat screen TV, nothing special...

...but this is all about scale, here's another CGI from a different angle:

Now you begin to get an idea of just how big this is going to be, but what is it?

What it is, is what it looks like, but on a massive scale. This is Lance Forman's London's Living Room, one massive sofa (there's over 70,000 sq ft of space inside it) and a telly that's four storeys high.

If this gets built, and I see no reason why it shouldn't (it's already got planning permission) it could be, despite the millions spent on the stadium, the aquatic centre, Mittal Tower etc, THE iconic image of the 2012 Olympics. And somehow that just seems right.

Two substantial planning applications are due to go before Newham's Strategic Development Committee tonight and could prove controversial, even though no decision will formally be made upon them. Here's why...

Firstly the applications.

68-70 High Street, E15 - Demolition of existing buildings and erection of part 1, 5, 9 and 18 storey building to provide 173 residential units along with some mixed use commercial space.

Plot S25, Monfichet Road, Zone 1 Stratford City - Creation of a building varying in height from 12 to 25 storeys to provide 951 student accommodation units (mix: 891 single study bedrooms, arranged in clusters with communal kitchen areas, and 60 studios).

The reason these two applications go before committee members is so that the Council can finalise a formal response to the ODA Planning Decisions Team (ODA PDT), as it is they who are the Local Planning Authority with the applications falling within their planning boundary.

Interestingly Newham have recommended the ODA to refuse both applications. Regards to 68-70 High Street they raise concerns in respect of the detailed design, elevational treatment and materiality of the proposed development, and the provision of affordable housing and request that until these matters are addressed, they object to the application. Their formal response to Unite's huge student scheme is more critical. They object to the proposed development on the basis that, "the location and quantum of the development is unacceptable" and the "the design quality of the development is unacceptable".

Both applications go before committee tonight but we won't find out the actual decision until the ODA Planning Decisions Team go over them. Neither item is on the agenda of the next meeting on 22 November, the one after that is the 13th of December.

Surely the ODA will take Newham's view seriously. You would certainly hope so. I didn't realise the scope of the ODA's planning realm went so far. If an 18 storey tower providing nearly 200 units was built on the High Street of your main urban centre you would want to have a say in its decision making. It will be Newham dealing with its consequences long after the Olympics have gone.

Above: 68-70 High Street. Lancaster's plan for 173 residential units and below Unite; the biggest provider of student accommodation, their plan for a massive 951 student beds close to the Westfield shopping centre and next to the Stratford International train station.

Below is actually what you think it is. The spire of the Shard, sitting in a Yorkshire field. What is it doing there I hear you ask? Well, it's been pre-fabricated and pre-assembled and has undergone a full trial programme, essentially a practice run. It will then be de-assembled and put into place 1,000 feet above London Bridge station. Contractor Mace has the full story.

Thanks to Engineering Surveyor for the picture. View the EGi Building report for the Shard here.

Whilst on the subject of the Shard, head over to our sister blog and our colleagues over at the Office Gossip for an interesting time-lapse video featuring the Shard and the recent fog.

..has been around for a while, usually on a fairly small scale. But putting it on a more organised level here's Maisoniadeal a French outfit who claim that by negotiating on behalf of groups of individuals planning to build a new home, it can save buyers as much as 30 percent. 

Of course due to economies of scale the more people in your group the greater the discount, take Kinmel Hall (above) which I blogged about a while back. It's got over 122 rooms and it's yours for £3.5m...that's around 30k a room. Your only problem now is finding the other 121 people...

Vandalised lights next to the recently completed Aqua Vista development:

Now it's really starting to look like a construction site. Three shots from the same point at fortnightly intervals as the hole gets bigger:

As I said in the previous post we've blogged about this site more than any other here, here, here, here, here, here and now here.

...will be here by Christmas:

...even though they said it would be ready to trade in August:

It looked like this yesterday:

Full details on Paul's posting earlier this year.

First there was Gazumping, then there was Gazundering. Now, there is Gazanging and Gazinding.

According to an article in the Sunday Times "Home" supplement (Oct 23 2011, Helen Davies), these are the latest G-words to hit the housing market describing the ups and downs of the buying process. The article talks about how more and more sales are falling through and how "dirty tricks" are being attributed to the cause. Apparently, Gazanging is when the seller pulls out and decides to stay put and Gazinding is when a buyer withdraws at the last minute. 

I can think of another - Galumbering - which means being lumbered with a really bad property with problems galore!

Feel free to post other suggestions using the comments section.

For those who who don't already know, here are the Wikipedia definitions:

Gazumping - when a seller (especially of property) accepts a verbal offer of the asking price from one potential buyer, but then accepts a higher offer from someone.

Gazundering - is the practice of demanding a reduction in price to secure the sale of a property. This is usually done during contract negotiation.

Gazanging - when a vendor pulls out of a property transaction and opts to stay put, having previously accepted an offer.

Gazinding - no Wikipedia definition as yet 

This week saw Lord Foster, along with engineers Halcrow reveal plans of their extravagant Thames Hub airport. To say the plans are ambitious would be a huge understatement, they are hugely ambitious; but in a good way.

Our colleagues over in 'London Offices' have beaten us to it though, so I won't go in to too much detail regarding the plans, go over to the Office Gossip for the detail, or here for the Thames Hub press release. Let's be honest, the plans sound great, 4 runways, a new tidal barrier to protect against flooding, a power generator harvesting tidal energy and new high speed railways. The plan is holistic, something major regeneration plans are too often not.

Lord Foster stated, "We need to recapture the foresight and political courage of our 19th century forebears if we are to establish a modern transport and energy infrastructure in Britain for this century and beyond". In other words what he's saying is we need planning to work like it did back in the 1800's for this proposal to get built. Back then there was no such thing as the Town and Country Planning Association, if you owned the land you could build on it. Expect this proposal if it is thought of seriously to be dragged back by planning delays and multiple public inquries.

Unfortunately for Foster the politics has already started. Sir Terry Farrell has hit out at the plans which would seem strange at first seeing as though he is the masterplanner for the London Thames Gateway, which will surely be the biggest beneficiary if this scheme was to get built. He instead is advocating a new rail hub connecting existing airports on a site in Hammersmith & Fulham called Park Royal City, a scheme he is also masterplanning.

Conflict of interest maybe? Both surely can't be built? Either way, the politics has already started...

I've always enjoyed living in London. I know rent has always been expensive but you do live in the second best city in the world (according to Knight Frank's Global City Survey.)

I was reading the Telegraph this morning and noticed that, when considering the average wage in London is £23,816 and average rent is £520pcm, 26.2% of Londoners' income is spent on rent. If you deduct the tax from the wage (£5,259 or 22%), we're are left with £12,317 pa after we have paid rent. If you add the average bills into the equation (water, gas, electricity and Council tax), that leaves £10,938 or 46% of your salary to spend on physical and mental survival. After starting at a healthy £65 a day, your salary quickly decreases to £30 a day. However, you live in London and you wouldn't change it for the world. Where could be better to live in the UK?

I was surprised to find the most expensive place is actually Poole, in Dorset. Following the same equation, the average salary for Poole is £17,820 and after subtracting tax, you are left with £14,479 pa. The average rent is £4,776 pa which equates to 26.8% of their net annual income - 0.8% more than London.  Deducting the average bills drops it further to £8,323. So if my maths is correct, the average daily wage after these all these deductions is £22.80? Don't get me wrong, everyone loves the sea air but there must be something I'm missing that makes Poole better than London...

As rent is rising by 5% a year and annual pay growth is 2.8%, this is, unfortunately, only going to increase. Therefore (unless something changes), Londoners will be spending 32% of their income on rent by 2021 and Poole will be spending 33%. 

With prime London flats being bought mainly by overseas investors and the steady increase of renting tends to suggest that it is only going to get more and more difficult to rent in London. If the average low-to-middle income household put aside 5 per cent of their disposable income each year it would take 31 years to save a deposit in 2010 -  previously eight years in 1983.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to solve this?

Fancy this view from the top floor of a 6 storey town house?

How about this view from the back garden?

It could be yours if you've got over £8 million to spare. Built in the mid to late 18th century, this property on Old Queen Street backing onto Birdcage Walk was most recently used as offices. An application has however been made for change of use to a single residential dwelling where you could call both David Cameron and the Queen as neighbours (sort of).

Here's the brochure, which describes the building as a 'rare opportunity to upgrade one of London's most historic buildings to 21st Century standards'. Hathaways Period Houses are marketing the building, along with Drivers Jonas Deloitte. 

...attempts to devour building:

Or so it would seem. This is in fact the site office for Ballymore's Pura Site development (AKA Leamouth Peninsula North) and despite appearances this IS how it's meant to look like. The shaggy look is due to a lack of pruning I presume, since the development is still on the drawing board, although recent applications to modify the extant consent may suggest a resumption of works soon. There are a few of these hybrid plant/concrete structures around the capital, one right in the City in fact as part of the New Street Square development:

...and yes I am talking about the Channel 4 series is not the only TV programme to feature Corbridge Crescent as one of its backdrops. In last night's Top Boy it was the Empress Coachworks (below):

But before then 5-6 Corbridge Crescent was featured in the BBC's Hidden featuting that bloke off of Life on Mars:

Both sites only a few feet from each other. And it's good to see that the latter site is having some use after a resi development was halted (and remains so) on the site due to its proximity to a gasholder. Both visible in the picture above, both just to the west of the junction between Cambridge Heath Road and Regent's Canal.