please empty your brain below
The nice man from Barratt called me at 3pm to tell me all the 1-bed flats had gone by 11am, with the cheapest costing £282k.
(I'd "expressed interest" via the internet in a masochistic moment of madness one night. I knew I'd never actually stand a chance of living there.)
Certainly the chap who called me was nice, honest and decent. Don't know if that applies to Barratt as a whole, but I hope so.
Perhaps they could convert it into a house for me. I'd look after it, honest. :-)
1. There was a global financial collapse in 2008, the worst since the 1920's, Many banks and property developers went to the wall. It's only in the last two years that property development has begun to take off again.
2. Big sites take longer to develop because they require a lot of money to do so, and they end up being much more political as people fight over what bribes (I'm sorry section 106 agreements) they can extract from the developers, at the same time \nimbies grow in size in relation to the scheme.
It is easier to sell a small scheme in one go as it needs only a few buyers and less financing. Large schemes also face additional mortgage problems.
Many banks still refuse to lend to schemes more than 7 storeys high. Some will be but it will be a case by case assessment. Also in new buildings a bank will not want to hold to many mortgages. I remember from my days as a mortgage lender that certain big new schemes in our local area would only have a limited time before we would refuse to offer any more mortgages in a particular building.
People decry foreign investors in UK residential schemes, but there has been a strong reluctance to lend to residential development and it's only because of foreign sales that many schemes have been launched in the last few years.
As to Greenwich peninsula. It has taken a long time, sure the recession did not help but they had a long time before then to build something and they never managed it.
The problem was that government seems to like to sign big development deals with one company simply to get the responsibility off their hands. The problem is that as a single owner you have no interest in dumping 1,000 of unites at one time on the market. Not only does it cost money it depresses values.
A better idea would have been to form a mini development corporation to build some roads etc, then sell off individual plots to separate builders.
But oops that sounds a bit too like the LDDC and we can't have that.
That's all I can comment on. He knew within two minutes that he wasn't going to earn anything from me, but that didn't put a stop to our 20-minute wide-ranging conversation.
He also didn't try to bullshit when I commented on how many of those flats snapped up in an hour went to BTL investors rather than people who'd actually like to buy a home to live in, disinterested in investment and profit and only caring to have a stable roof over their heads.
As for building enough to meet demand - this was the first phase, there will be more. But as flats are already as small as they can be (you're dreaming if you want a separate kitchen these days) I'm not sure squeezing more in to a fixed area of land is to anyone's interest!
Who knows...maybe he "in the same boat"...or has family/friends who are.
It being the first phase kind of continues the problem into the future. They will judge the market phase by phase if there is still a very high demand (when won't there be) and a "crash" has not happened (yet?) then build a few more.
As for BTL "investors" (other people may have another term) then I guess it all part of the mix then now is the "housing market".
The real truth of the matter is a lack of "affordable" housing to buy or rent. This coupled with low-paid, frozen wages, zero-hour contracts, etc. is creating a awful situation for many in London and other parts.
I hope someone soon comes up with a proper plan to tackle this issue.
Plans have not gone ahead. Instead the original Tesco has had a bit of a makeover, neighbouring businesses survive, and the derelict buildings on the remainder of the site are still derelict buildings.
Having said this, the site is rather run down, but would have been nice if they actually had intentions of having a proper employment hub here..
In 2000 it was Greenwich Council's freestanding display area just outside the dome (complete with large architectural model of the area), and the plan was for it to then be relocated further south to become a dual-use faith & community use building serving the new build developments on the Greenwich peninsula. It seemed an interesting plan, though I have a feeling the plans must have fallen through.
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