East London Insights Q2 2022

Planning permission has been granted for a project which will see a Grade II listed East Ham public house converted into 18 flats. According to the proposals, the Dukes Head pub on Barking Road will be converted and refurbished with a new four-storey residential extension constructed to accommodate the new flats. The flats will consist of eight one-bedroom, three two-bedroom and seven three-bedroom units. 

The project will also see the creation of 382 sq m of community use floor space on the ground floor. It is anticipated that this will be used as a business training centre. There will also be cycle parking and refuse storage facilities.

Image via newhamrecorder.co.uk

Newham Council has selected a team of designers to help deliver its 1,750 home regeneration scheme in Canning Town.

Architect Jestico & Whiles has been appointed to create an estate regeneration masterplan for the 10ha site, which is split by the A13. Newham Council has also chosen the multidisciplinary engineering and consultancy firm Buro Happold, Architecture Doing Place, AR Urbanism, Architect Deft.Space, and AS Urban to deliver the project alongside Jestico and Whiles.

The site will be co-designed with the estate residents, with the expectation that the development will deliver new affordable homes, community spaces, an extensive public realm and improved links to the wider area. Currently, the site hosts low-rise homes but is identified by the borough as being suitable for taller buildings ranging from six to eight storeys and fifteen storeys at "key locations."

A detailed planning application is expected to be submitted for the first phase later in 2022.

Image via bdonline.co.uk

An area of east London that has been derelict for 40 years is set to be transformed following significant investment, which will create vital new homes and jobs.

Homes England has pledged £233m of infrastructure funding to the £3.5bn Silvertown site in Newham, one of the largest brownfield sites in the docklands.

The infrastructure funding will be used to build 6,000 new homes and support the creation of 1.8 million sq ft of workspace. There will also be space for cultural and community events and a new town centre for the Royal Docks.

Peter Freeman, Chair of Homes England comments: "Our commitment to the Silvertown project is another example of how we can work with the private sector to bring forward large, complex sites and help transform them into places of the future.

"This infrastructure funding will enable The Silvertown Partnership to create new communities in the heart of East London and bring swathes of derelict brownfield land back to life." 

The Silvertown Partnership has affirmed that 50 per cent of homes within the neighbourhood will be affordable, including London Affordable Rent and shared ownership.  

Homes England will provide loan financing to tackle the high up-front infrastructure costs. This includes repairing the dock walls, which have previously prevented the site's development, along with a new pedestrian and cycle bridge across Royal Victoria Dock and the restoration of the iconic Millennium Mills. 

Image via creherald.com

Asset management giant GAW Capital has submitted plans to Tower Hamlet Council to create a new 52-storey residential tower at Harbour Exchange on the Isle of Dogs.

Designed by Architects Make, the tower will create 457 homes as well as retail, community and amenity space at a site next to the South Quay Docklands Light Railway station. Just over one-third of the homes will be affordable and plans include a multi-use children's play and youth centre as well as onsite resident parking.

If approved, the tower would be the latest in a series of skyscrapers at South Quay with the site already home to Make's 48-storey 225 Marsh Wall and 53-storey Amory Tower. It would replace low rise office buildings close to Marsh Wall.

Image via architectsjournal.co.uk

As part of a joint venture partnership with London Square, Peabody is to deliver 457 new homes in Newham at its new Vulcan Wharf site. The scheme will include 61 shared ownership properties and 80 London Affordable Rent homes. Peabody instructed Strettons to provide valuation services on the 61 shared ownership properties. 

Vulcan Wharf will include a mix of 1, 2 and 3 bedroom homes across six low-rise blocks of two to fourteen storeys. Light industrial floorspace comprising 3,494 sq m and 180 sq m of retail floorspace will also be created, along with car and cycle parking facilities. 

Currently an industrial area within 10 minutes' walk of Pudding Mill Lane and Bow Church DLR station, Vulcan Wharf will be transformed under the new plans. It will provide residents with communal landscaped gardens, a play area, leisure facilities and good access to additional leisure activities in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

The scheme is expected to complete in early 2025 with the sales launch for shared ownership homes anticipated in 2024.

Image via assael.co.uk

According to plans presented by the local community, a Waltham Forest neighbourhood could be transformed into a rainforest. The plans, which originally date back to 2019, will see the 5.6 hectare former Thames Water Depot on Lea Bridge Road grow into a brownfield rainforest.

The site is currently a concrete depot in the middle of a large, open green space. By transforming the site, the intention is to offer local people the opportunity to spend more time in nature and take part in activities ranging from wild swimming to conservation volunteering. 

The plans will link together numerous other marshes and nature reserves in east London to create an area for local communities to enjoy. 

Campaigner Harry Hewat comments: "I've always been shocked at how dislocated this landscape is, with so many barriers and fences that detract from the natural beauty of the area and the ability to roam. This site is the missing piece of the jigsaw."

"Opening it up will stitch together Leyton and Walthamstow Marshes to the north, the Waterworks Centre Nature Reserve to the east, Hackney Marshes and Middlesex Filter Beds to the south and the river and towpath to the west to create a huge urban park. We're calling it the East London Waterworks Park!" 

Since the plans were announced, several reports have been drawn up by the campaign, including an engineering pre-feasibility report, as well as a phase two report describing the project's inclusivity listening plans.

Image via secretldn.com

Hackney Council has granted Pocket Living planning permission to build a new residential development on Mandeville Street.

The scheme will see the creation of a new seven-storey development which will include 46 new homes for sale, including 43 one-bed affordable homes and three two-bedroom homes. The homes will be sold at a 20% discount for first time buyers who live or work in Hackney and earn under the Mayor of London's income threshold for affordable housing. 

Thomasin Renshaw, Pocket Living's development director comments: "This decision will enable many local people in Hackney access to high-quality housing at a discounted value. It marks our third successful application in London this year and will allow us to continue to provide housing for the next generation of homeowners.

"We know, however, that there is still more that needs to be done to tackle the housing crisis for the next generation. There needs to be greater acceleration in the unlocking of small sites that will allow us and other SME developers to deliver more affordable homes for a variety of needs." 

Image via pbctoday.co.uk

The Redbridge Tesco will soon become a new urban village.

The £500m Lorimer Village has been planned by Tesco and Weston Homes. It will transform the 10 acre plus site into a new urban village with 1,280 new homes and facilities. The site currently holds a Tesco Superstore, car park, and petrol station - a new Tesco store will be opened to replace it.

In addition to the new homes, Lorimer Village will include a new primary school, village hall, a community hub, landscaped gardens, parking facilities and public transport improvements.

Construction is expected to take 8 years and the village will primarily feature 14 residential towers ranging from 10-22 storeys. The homes and commercial facilities will be 100%  electric powered using rooftop solar panels and 415 of the homes will be low cost, either rented, discount market sale or shared ownership. 

Image via essexlive.news

Local residents and visitors to Barking Riverside will now benefit from quicker and easier journeys following the opening of the Barking Riverside station on 18 July. Having opened ahead of schedule, it is London's newest railway station. 

The extension reduces journey times between Barking and Barking Riverside, which formerly took 25 minutes by bus, and connects over 10,000 new homes under construction along with a range of community, commercial and retail spaces.

Councillor Cameron Geddes, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Economic Development at Barking and Dagenham Council comments: "This is great news and a major milestone for Barking Riverside and the borough as a whole, coming closely after the commencement of the Thames Clipper service from Riverside. The London Overground Extension has been in the pipeline for some time, and it's very good to see it come to fruition."

Image via lbbd.gov.uk

Barking and Dagenham Council has unanimously approved the latest step in plans that will see a 1,500 home development created in Barking. The Council has given the green light for more than 300 homes to be built in the latest stage of the Gascoigne Estate.

334 homes will be built, many of which will be affordably priced for east London residents. Most of the flats available for "affordable" rent will be three- and four-bedroom homes, which the Council said would cater to the many families living in Barking and Dagenham who need new homes.

New public squares, parks, footpaths and cycleways will also be created. The 211 flats currently on the site are set to be demolished. 

Image via mylondon.news

A new planning application has been submitted that, if granted, will see the construction of a new housing development in Hornchurch. If built, the planned development would consist of a trio of three-bed detached houses at a site close to Gladiator Way. 

Consultations will now be carried out and a decision should be made by 10 August 2022.  

Image via romfordrecorder.co.uk