The £172m project will be built in Limehouse at 82 West India Dock Road in East London, with work expected to start next summer.

Designed by architects Simpson Haugh & Partners, the project will include a 400-room hotel, 66 homes and retail space set amongst substantial public realm improvements.

It will take the form of two buildings on a shared podium with the apartments distinguished with a floor to floor fully glazed facade and the hotel clad with brick-clad precast panels.

The slenderness of the tower enables a substantial amount of public realm to be given back at the ground floor.

Donal Mulryan, Founder of Rockwell, said: “Our vision for 82 West India Dock Road will breathe new life into a neglected site that has been derelict for many years.

“This inspiring new building includes a hotel that will bring new jobs and business to the local area, in addition to much needed new homes for the local community in an inspiring new building. We are dedicated to delivering this exciting, high-quality development and look forward to turning this site into a place that locals can be proud of.”

It’s the first time architect Make has used virtual reality to help an inspector assess a new development, marking a significant moment for digital construction.

225 Marsh Wall residential tower will be built next to the Madison high rise near Canary Wharf

The 48-storey project at 225 Marsh Wall will replace an existing multi-let office building with 332 flats, and will be directly to the east of The Madison tower being built by Balfour Beatty.

The residential project was recommended for approval by London Borough of Tower Hamlets planning officers in late 2017, but was refused by elected members of the Strategic Development Committee.

The planning inspector has now granted planning after being helped by virtual reality visualisation at the site.

Frank Filskow, lead architect on the project from Make, said: “At a time when it is agreed that more homes need to be built, that provide amenities and community benefits, we are delighted with this result.

“This is the first time we have used Virtual Reality to help the inspector assess the scheme on site and it made a real difference.

“This will make a great sister building to The Madison which we also designed for LBS Properties and fits with the wider masterplan for the area, delivering wider benefits for the community including a nursery and retail.”

Nick Crawford, managing director at LBS Properties, said: “We are delighted to have received planning permission for this significant development, that will provide high-quality new homes, commercial space, and extensive public realm, contributing to the evolution of the South Quay area as an attractive place to live and work.

“It will combine with The Madison, due to complete in 2020, to provide a new public square for Marsh Wall East, and over 750 new homes in two slender towers.”

The first site will be The Timber Yard on Pershore Street.

The 1.5 acre regeneration scheme will include 379 apartments for private sale, complete with hotel-style foyers, concierge, private gymnasium, club lounge and cinema/screening room.

The apartments will be in two 13-storey and seven-storey blocks.

The Galliard Apsley Partnership has four other residential projects in the pipeline across Birmingham providing 2,800 apartments.

Mark Evans, Knight Frank’s Head of Regional Residential Development, said: “Birmingham welcomed over 7,500 people migrating from London last year, more than any other city in the UK.

“As the city’s renaissance continues at speed, we anticipate this flight out of the capital to continue as people search for greater value and higher yielding residential investments.”

David Galman, Sales Director at Galliard Homes said: “For over 25 years Galliard Homes has helped young professionals and individual investors get onto the property ladder and this launch will continue our work in Birmingham and give the city the benefit of Galliard’s value-for-money London style product for which our brand is renowned.”

Growth for next year has been downgraded to rise by only 0.6% with this year now expected to be flat amid Brexit uncertainty and on-going delays in the delivery of major infrastructure projects.

The Construction Products Association’s Autumn Forecast predicts that even this growth will depend on the Government extending help to buy and driving ahead with major infrastructure projects to hit the expected output peak of £23bn by 2020.

Over the last 12 months, the equity loan accounted for almost one-third of all house building sales, particularly sustaining demand  in the North and Midlands which has offset falls in London and the South East.

The housing sector’s output is forecast to rise 5% in 2018 and 2% in 2019 – but this assumes government will extend funding for the scheme beyond 2021. Without an extension, housing starts are expected to start declining from 2019.

Infrastructure, the other primary driver of growth, is forecast to achieve a historic high of £23bn by 2020, driven by large projects such as HS2 and Hinkley Point C.

But forecasters remain concerned about government’s ability to deliver major infrastructure projects without the cost overruns and delays seen recently on Crossrail.

Caution surrounds the forecast, and growth in the infrastructure sector has been revised down to 8.7% in 2019, from its previous forecast of 13%.

Brexit uncertainty continues to drive expectations for the sharpest construction decline in the commercial sector, particularly felt in the offices sub-sector.

Investors have signalled the uncertainty is too high to justify significant up-front investment in new floor space for a long-term rate of return, and output is expected to fall 10% in 2018 and a further 20% in 2019.

Noble Francis, Economics Director at the Construction Products Association said: “Construction continues apace in some sectors such as house building, particularly in key hotspots of activity such as Manchester and Salford. Overall, we are still expecting construction output to increase next year but this growth is highly dependent on house building outside London and also major infrastructure projects offsetting falls in activity in other sectors.

“The forecasts assume that the UK and EU will agree a deal on Brexit towards the end of the year but the continued uncertainty over a ‘No Deal’ Brexit has already had a big impact on construction new orders in construction sectors dependent on high upfront, often international, investment for a long-term rate of return.

“These include the construction of prime residential in London, industrial factories and commercial offices towers.

“Even if the UK government eventually agrees a deal with the EU on Brexit, construction output in all these sectors is expected to fall sharply during 2019 due to falls in new orders, which have already occurred in the past 18 months, feeding through to activity on the ground.

“Major infrastructure projects are expected to drive industry growth in 2019 and 2020 but the £600m cost overruns and nine-month delays to Crossrail add to existing concerns about government’s ability to deliver major projects and lead to additional concerns about the delivery of already delayed projects such as Hinkley Point C and HS2.”

A series of strategic joint venture development deals has seen the business build a 4,125 pipeline of homes and 166,000 sq ft commercial space, valued at around £3.2bn (2016:£560m).

Mount Anvil said it had adopted a cautious approach in recent years to buying land through competitive bid processes in the over-heated London market, preferring to build long-term relationships with existing and potential partners

It said this long-term approach was now paying off and saw it exchanging contracts last year on three central London schemes with a combined capacity to deliver over 1,200 new homes.

So far in 2018, the development arm has stepped up its pipeline exchanging further contracts on 2,000 homes with a further 1,000 units at an advanced development stage of the legal process.

Its next build out scheme will be Royal Docks West, a 19 storey block next to Customs House Crossrail station in East London.

Meanwhile, a sharp rise in average home prices at existing schemes in 2017 to over £1m a home lifted group profit by 60% to nearly £12m from revenue of £225m.

The building contracting arm of central London developer Mount Anvil saw revenue rise 50% last year to £147m as several major schemes moved to full construction.

But pre-tax profits at the arm slid from £1.8m previously to just £300,000 last year.

Despite lower returns from construction, sales director Jon Hall said: “We are delighted with the success of our approach, which is focussed on maximising long-term profit, minimising risk and delivering a positive legacy.”

The strong financial performance of its schemes left closing net cash of £32m, after repayment of £25m of group debt, achieving the milestone of leaving Mount Anvil debt-free at 2017 year-end.

Plans to redevelop the former Ford assembly site at Beam Park in South Dagenham had been blocked after Havering Council refused permission claiming it would harm the character of the local area due to the height of the buildings.

But now developer Countryside Properties and London & Quadrant Housing Trust can build a £1bn neighbourhood at the 29-hectare site which sits alongside the River Beam in South Dagenham

Their ambitious plans include a new rail station, two primary schools, a nursery, community facilities, retail and open spaces, as well as the new homes.

As a result of negotiations between City Hall and the site’s developers, L&Q and Countryside, the proportion of genuinely affordable homes has been raised from 35% to 50%, as well as building heights which has been upped by as much as seven storeys since the original plan was submitted.

The site straddles the border of two boroughs: Previously Barking and Dagenham Council approved the development but Havering Council refused permission, over concerns it would harm the character of the local area due to the height of the proposed buildings.

London’s Deputy Mayor for Planning, Regeneration and Skills, Jules Pipe, said: “This is a large, very important site and these plans will deliver 3,000 much-needed new homes, along with transport, schools and community facilities to help make this a liveable and attractive new neighbourhood for this part of east London.

“Having weighed up the evidence available to me and given the overall importance of the application, I have decided to grant approval.

“The wider area around Beam Park has the potential to deliver thousands of new homes and jobs, and could play a crucial role in London’s economy in the decades to come.”