Posted 23.02.17
JLL's The Investor: Article link
Redeveloped city-centre car parks could house up to one million people in the UK and go some way to alleviating the country's housing crisis.
This is according to new figures from JLL, which suggest that nearly 10,500 car parks have the potential to create as many as 400,000 homes.
With the vast majority of these car parks, residential developments can be built without sacrificing parking spaces.
Similar conversions in urban locations include London's Marylebone Square, built over the Moxon Street Car Park. Its 115 parking spaces were re-provisioned as 95 public spaces in a basement lot.
Crucially, more than half the car parks identified by the JLL report lie under the control of local authorities, suggesting that the UK government has the power to enable around 200,000 homes to be built on urban car parks.
The private sector operates car parks that could be developed into up to 145,000 homes, while rail operators control sites that could be turned into up to 25,000 homes.
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Posted 10.02.17
Catalyst Housing: Article link
Catalyst has partnered with Berkeley Group to deliver 186 affordable units as part of the first phase of the Southall Waterside development in West London. 120 of the new homes will be for affordable rent with the remaining 66 for shared ownership.
Berkeley's development is one of the largest and most significant mixed use residential schemes in London and will deliver some 3,750 new homes, along with landscaped parkland and community facilities.
The project is expected to take 20 plus years to complete. Plans for the first phase include a total of 618 new homes, as well as a portion of the flagship linear park, roads, pedestrian walkways and parking.
Construction is due to start this spring and the first homes are set to complete in late 2018.
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Posted 02.02.17
L&Q: Article link
Housing association L&Q has completed the acquisition of Gallagher Estates, one of the largest strategic land companies in the UK, for an enterprise value of approximately £505 million.
The acquisition of Gallagher Estates follows L&Q's merger with East Thames Limited, the launch of an ambitious plan to enable the delivery of 100,000 new homes and a £2.6 billion refinancing package which creates the platform for growth.
Gallagher Estates are a strategic land business based in Warwick. They control plots to deliver 42,500 new homes, mainly in the South and South Midlands.
This acquisition places L&Q as one of the leading enablers of new homes across the UK.
Gallagher Estates will become a wholly owned subsidiary of L&Q, and will continue to be run by the current management team as a stand-alone entity.