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Battersea Power Station Project
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When some of our young cannot even afford to get on the bottom rung of the housing ladder isn't a project like this simply a disgrace?
When some of our young cannot even afford to get on the bottom rung of the housing ladder isn't a project like this simply a disgrace?
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not all the property is privately owned, local authorities don't do them up now, which is what i have been saying all along, they let them rot, then sell them to a property developer, because they don't want the responsibility any longer of looking after these council homes. Three private houses were built near us recently, you wouldn't give them a second glance really, but each will retail for around 2 million or so we were told, who honestly can afford that.
Don't get much for £6 million in London, aog.
Average house prices for Wandsworth : Detached house £1.066,880; Semi-detached £634,000; Terraced £520,00 ;Flat £315,000. Average for all properties £378,000 [source Housepricesuk site]
Why do you think these flats will be bought by foreigners? Maybe the £6 million one will be, but the pricing of the development as a whole is much in line with what locals pay.
And when was the last time you've heard of a site being compulsorily purchased by a Council? Where would it find the money? The government doesn't do it either. Current practice is to make it a condition of development that a percentage of the homes be "affordable housing" and/ or to require the developer to pay a sum in lieu for the benefit of the local residents. Planning laws are being relaxed a bit, but the affordable housing element has survived so far; around here (East Anglia) it can even be 50-50 between commercial and "affordable" housing.
But the housing ladder became difficult to climb many years ago. In the days when you could buy a detached 3 bed with garage in Colchester for £20k, it was affordable because it represented no more than 3 times what many people earned, but at £300k plus it became well above that. And neither price was that long ago.
Average house prices for Wandsworth : Detached house £1.066,880; Semi-detached £634,000; Terraced £520,00 ;Flat £315,000. Average for all properties £378,000 [source Housepricesuk site]
Why do you think these flats will be bought by foreigners? Maybe the £6 million one will be, but the pricing of the development as a whole is much in line with what locals pay.
And when was the last time you've heard of a site being compulsorily purchased by a Council? Where would it find the money? The government doesn't do it either. Current practice is to make it a condition of development that a percentage of the homes be "affordable housing" and/ or to require the developer to pay a sum in lieu for the benefit of the local residents. Planning laws are being relaxed a bit, but the affordable housing element has survived so far; around here (East Anglia) it can even be 50-50 between commercial and "affordable" housing.
But the housing ladder became difficult to climb many years ago. In the days when you could buy a detached 3 bed with garage in Colchester for £20k, it was affordable because it represented no more than 3 times what many people earned, but at £300k plus it became well above that. And neither price was that long ago.
The Government does appear to be too bothered about the 1million privately owned houses that are empty.
// The Government does not believe that more legislation is needed to enable local authorities to tackle empty homes or that local authorities should be required to create registers of empty homes in their area. Local authorities have already been given powers to address this issue and we would rather ensure all local authorities perform as the best already do by implementing effective empty property strategies. //
// The Government does not believe that more legislation is needed to enable local authorities to tackle empty homes or that local authorities should be required to create registers of empty homes in their area. Local authorities have already been given powers to address this issue and we would rather ensure all local authorities perform as the best already do by implementing effective empty property strategies. //
No,em10, your council won't be building affordable housing itself but it should be requiring other developers to build some alongside the commercial housing in the same development. What happens too is that Housing Associations build affordable housing.
Just to show how daft our planning law and practice has been, a Housing Association came to me and offered to buy some land on the edge of this village. Their bargaining point was that it was outside the "village envelope", that is it could not be built on at present by me, but they, being a Housing Association, would get permission. They would build 25 units on an acre. They offered me £65,000 for an acre. Now, it would ordinarily have been worth £1 million with planning permission. I said "No" unless they took another site inside the village too and built commercial housing there, so I'd end up as if I had developed both sites (affordable plus commercial, as per the rules). They refused that offer.
Result? No houses or flats were built and the village is still short of about 60 homes on present estimates by the villages themselves. And the land? I gave the acre plus another to the village because the village wanted allotments. And people wonder why there's a housing shortage here.
Just to show how daft our planning law and practice has been, a Housing Association came to me and offered to buy some land on the edge of this village. Their bargaining point was that it was outside the "village envelope", that is it could not be built on at present by me, but they, being a Housing Association, would get permission. They would build 25 units on an acre. They offered me £65,000 for an acre. Now, it would ordinarily have been worth £1 million with planning permission. I said "No" unless they took another site inside the village too and built commercial housing there, so I'd end up as if I had developed both sites (affordable plus commercial, as per the rules). They refused that offer.
Result? No houses or flats were built and the village is still short of about 60 homes on present estimates by the villages themselves. And the land? I gave the acre plus another to the village because the village wanted allotments. And people wonder why there's a housing shortage here.
Fred, they are building on any space that someone isn't actually standing in at the time. We have three separate developments going on in a half a mile radius or less, and most if not all are privately built. If there are some affordable flats, they won't be to most of the ordinary folk around here because if anyone thinks 300k is affordable for a one bed, or perhaps two bed flat then they have a screw loose.
It makes me mad to think that the young cannot afford to get on any housing ladder and yet Councils can bend over backwards for people like Qatada and his miserable family and give him what he wants, only for him to complain it's not big enough. Good luck to those who can afford to live in the Circus they'll need the dosh, being close to Chelsea.
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