News

The minimum energy efficiency standards are changing

Net Zero is coming, and with it, stricter Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) for privately rented properties. It is proposed that by 2028, all new tenancies must meet a minimum EPC rating of C, with existing tenancies complying by 2030. Landlords may need to invest up to £15,000 per property, with affordability exemptions under review. Non-compliance could result in fines up to £30,000.

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Renters Rights Bill – Date set for next stage

It’s been confirmed that the next stage of the Renters Rights Bill will not begin for another month.

The committee stage of the Bill will begin in the House of Lords on April 22, following the Easter recess. The committee will sit again two days later on April 24.

The committee stage sees a number of peers examining the Bill line by line, with the opportunity to consider amendments.

Once the committee stage concludes a date is set for what are called the Report Stage and the Third Reading – these are typically held on the same day and in the full chamber, not in committee.

The Bill is expected to become law in the summer.

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Regal submits plan to revive stalled London resi tower

Developer Regal has submitted revamped plans to kick-start a stalled high-rise residential project in North London.

 

Fresh planning submission goes in to Camden Council for 100 Avenue Road
Fresh planning submission goes in to Camden Council for 100 Avenue Road

 

The firm bought the 100 Avenue Road site in Swiss Cottage after it stalled under a previous developer’s ownership following the completion of demolition and basement works.

The new plan retains the previous 24-floor tower of the original consented scheme but introduces key improvements.

It will now include a second staircase, feature a brick facade and prioritises sustainability with a gas-free, net-zero carbon approach.

The number of homes will increase from 184 to 237, with 35% designated as affordable housing, managed by a housing association. The remaining flats will now be homes for sale rather than for rent.

Ground floor space will feature improved commercial and community spaces, including new community facilities developed in consultation with The Winch.

Previous 100 Avenue Road project stalled at the foundations level due to soaring costs and a dispute with the council over affordable housing provision

Steve Harrington, Planning Director at Regal, said: “London is in the grip of a housing crisis, with too many developments stalled and too few homes being delivered.

“At 100 Avenue Road, we are unlocking a scheme that will bring forward 237 homes, including a significant proportion of affordable housing, in a prime, well-connected location.

“By taking decisive action to optimise the existing permission and meet modern standards, we are ensuring this site delivers on its full potential—providing high-quality homes and community benefits at a time when they are needed more than ever.”

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The Renters’ Rights Bill has its second reading

Second reading is the first opportunity for members of the Lords to debate the key principles and main purpose of a bill and to flag up any concerns or specific areas where they think amendments (changes) are needed.

Here are some of the talking points from the second reading:

  1. Baroness Taylor said that “private purpose-built student accommodation will be removed from the Assured Tenancy System”
  2. Other Peers suggested that any exemptions for student tenancies should extend to landlords renting one and two-bedroom flats to students
  3. Conservative Peers criticised the Labour Government for rushing this legislation through without proper due diligence
  4. Some Peers still feel landlords will be driven from the sector, further exacerbating issues with supply and demand, whereas others insist that these concerns are overblown
  5. Concerns about the courts remain, despite reassurance from Baroness Taylor that the Government is working with the Ministry of Justice to ensure that it’s prepared for the Bill’s impact
  6. As bidding laws will be outlawed, there are fears this will simply result in much higher asking rents
  7. Although pets in lets were welcomed by many Peers because of their mental health benefits, the fact that there’s no comprehensive pet damage insurance policy could leave landlords at risk
  8. Many fear that local councils won’t be able to enforce new rental rules due to underfunding, despite their new powers
  9. A decrease of properties in the PRS may not necessarily be negative as long as the supply of social housing increases
  10. Concerns were raised about the impact on small-scale landlords who may struggle to remove problem tenants without long legal delays
  11. While the abolition of Section 21 is novel for the English market, it can learn lessons from Scotland’s adaptation to a world without no-fault evictions
  12. Although the Decent Homes Standard is welcomed by many, there are concerns about how small landlords would afford the necessary improvements without passing costs onto tenants
  13. Self-employed and international renters are likely to suffer from the banning of up-front rent payments

 

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Green light for next phase of Berkeley Fulham site

Berkeley Group company St William has been granted detailed planning permission for phase four of the King’s Road Park masterplan, including 357 homes and 1.9 acres of new parkland and public open space.

 

 

The Foster + Partners’ approved design includes a pair of slender residential towers of 28 and 38 storeys and a podium building of seven-storeys.

Giles Robinson, Senior Partner, Foster + Partners, said: “The scheme will provide the highest quality homes that overlook one of London’s most spectacular new public parks.

“Responding to St William’s brief and working closely with the landscape designers, Gillespies, our design complements the historic urban surroundings and enhances connections with nature, by significantly increasing the amount of green space at the base of the towers and extending the experience of the park onto the podium’s rooftop.”

Dean Summers, Managing Director, St William, added: “The vision for King’s Road Park is to transform a redundant gasworks into a sustainable and welcoming neighbourhood, including a beautiful park and around 1,800 private and affordable homes.

“This is brownfield regeneration at its best and we’re delighted to have been granted planning consent for this important part of the masterplan.”

The two residential towers and podium are located on the eastern side of the masterplan. New homes face onto the park, which is located at the centre of the wider development and features a restored Grade II listed gasholder.

Foster + Partners’ phase four design reworks a previously submitted outline scheme, removing one tower and increasing the size of the floorplates in the two remaining buildings. The design has increased the size of the public park by almost 5,000 square feet and improves connectivity between King’s Road and Imperial Wharf Station.

The wider King’s Road Park neighbourhood is being created by St Willliam from a redundant 16-acre gasworks within the Fulham Riverside Regeneration Area.

Once all phases are complete, this new community will include around 1,800 homes, six-acres of public parks and open space and around 100,000 sq ft of new commercial uses.

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St William gets go-ahead for 245-home Stratford scheme

Berkeley-subsidiary St William has gained full planning to regenerate the long-derelict Stratford Gasworks site in East London.

 

 

A section 106 legal agreement has been finalised for the 2.2-acre brownfield site, which will be transformed into a 245 home mixed-tenure neighbourhood close to West Ham and Stratford Stations.

The development will now need Gateway 2 approval from the Building Safety Regulator before St William can start on site. 

Building envelopes feature a mix of handmade bricks and façade detailing which alludes to Victorian industrial heritage and the Grade II Listed Bazalgette-designed homes near the site’s southern edge.

Late last year Berkeley Group outlined its new investment strategy, including the ambition to put more sites through planning and into delivery, in response to the Government’s pro-homebuilding agenda.

Dean Summers, managing director of St William, said: “We need to make full use of London’s brownfield sites, and I want to commend the teams at LLDC and the London Borough of Newham for helping us to finalise the section 106 agreement within just five weeks of the planning committee’s approval.”

Designed in partnership with Cowen + Partners and LDA Design, St William’s proposals also include investments in the wider neighbourhood.

The design responds to the nearby Grade II* Listed Abbey Mills Pumping Station and a group of Grade II Listed mid-19th Century houses, both designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette.

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London Embankment scheme rebooted as student rooms

Plans to redevelop a major site on London’s Albert Embankment have been brought back to life with proposals for a 770-bed student scheme over two towers.

 

New plan for student room tower blocks on Albert Embankment
New plan for student room tower blocks on Albert Embankment

 

It is the third incarnation of plans for the 36-46 Albert Embankment site in Vauxhall, which received planning for a 900-bed hotel across similar proposed towers two years ago.

Before this plan, the site occupied by a Jet petrol station and owned by engineering firm Hotchkiss, had started out in the early 2000s as a planned flats scheme.

Under the new plan drawn up by architect Hopkins Architects for student developer Urbanest, the scale and appearance of the scheme will be similar to the second hotel plan.

The building heights are staying the same at 29 and 26 storeys with very minor changes to the overall massing to accommodate the change in use from a hotel to a purpose built student accommodation development.

Urbanest has struck a deal with University College London to take a large number of the rooms and aims to start work on the project by January 2026.

The scheme aims to achieve Passivhaus certification, become Net Zero in operation, target a BREEAM rating of Outstanding.

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Plans go in to start revamp of North Finchley town centre

Developer Regal has submitted a planning application to the London Borough of Barnet for the redevelopment of the Lodge Lane Car Park as part of the North Finchley Town Centre revamp.

 

 

The submission for Lodge Lane will be followed shortly by an outline submission for the wider North Finchley masterplan.

The proposed development includes 98 apartments alongside  30,500 sq ft of commercial space, including a restaurant, cinema, and bowling alley.

A key feature of the redevelopment is a new public square, designed to serve as a central gathering space for leisure, events, and social interaction.

Steve Harrington, Planning Director, Regal said: “Lodge Lane is the first piece of the puzzle for the wider North Finchley town centre masterplan project.

“Working with Barnet, we have listened to and learnt from local groups and have submitted plans that we believe will bring new life to the town centre, offering economic benefits through job creation and new commercial opportunities, reinforcing North Finchley’s position as a dynamic and desirable place to live, work, and visit.”

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Ultra rich clamour for Mace super prime resi scheme

Luxury developer Caudwell has topped out its landmark 1 Mayfair scheme in west London with a waiting list of 600 centi-millionaires and billionaires registered as potential buyers

 

 

Mace is main contractor on the £2bn scheme where prices for the 24 “principal residences” start at £35m.

Construction began in 2020 with full completion anticipated in Spring 2026. The team has included PJ Carey who have been responsible for the creation of the basement substructure and superstructure.

The topping out was marked by the final steel rafter, one of 79 at roof level, being put into place on the top of the nine-storey main apartment building.

With the building’s structure and basement now fully completed the next phases of construction include the finishing of the shell and core works and services and the installation and crafting of the Portland stone façades of the scheme.

Designers, specialist craftspeople and artisans from countries including Britain, Italy, France and America will create the classical architectural details of the façades and interiors.

Features will include porticoed entrances, 648 timber windows, each handcrafted by English window makers Mumford & Wood, 21 sculptural balconies, colonnades and a tiered façade to the uppermost floors providing pavilions with high ceilings opening onto private rooftop terraces.

Craftspeople will also be finishing the internal fit-out of the handcrafted interiors, including a rotunda featuring a ceiling with hand-painted frescos, a grand reception room with a double height ceiling and 18ft (5.5m) high French windows overlooking the garden and a Crystal Gallery, created from over 1,264 hand-set, cast glass pieces.

Developer John Caudwell said: “The topping out marks the completion of the structure and basement of 1 Mayfair and underlines the advanced stage of the project’s construction.

“1 Mayfair will deliver a legacy for London in the form of a landmark residential scheme that is timeless in terms of its architecture, design and build quality, setting a benchmark for London living and luxury design for centuries to come.”

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£1bn Bishopsgate Goodsyard phase one go-ahead

Joint developers Ballymore and Hammerson have received final approval from the London Mayor’s office for the first phase of the £1bn Bishops Goodsyard scheme on the fringe of the Square Mile.

 

Phase 1 of the planned Bishopsgate Goodsyard redevelopment
Phase 1 of the planned Bishopsgate Goodsyard redevelopment

 

The 10-acre site, which represents the last major brownfield site around the City, will ultimately be built out in a series of 9 plots.

The full plans will provide 500 homes, with 50% affordable, as well as 1.4 million sq ft of workspace, including one of the largest single contributions of affordable workspace of any development in London.

The developers have now got clearance to start work on the first cluster of buildings on plot 1 running alongside Shoreditch High Street and Bethnal Green Road where the existing Box Park temporary shopping mall exists.

Plot 1 involves construction of a large footprint 18-storey office building overflying the Shoreditch Station box and running along Bethnal Green Road.

Formed as two connected buildings, the scheme will provide 550,000 sq ft of office floorspace and ground-floor retail.

View from Bethnal Green Road of the proposed scheme looking west

The developers have also gained reserve matters approval for the restoration of historic buildings on Sclater Street.

Designed by Gensler and Buckley Gray Yeoman, the reserved matters approval marks the next stage in the realisation of the approved scheme.

Outline construction logistics were drawn up by WSP Transport while Hoare Lea provided energy and sustainability services.

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