“London prices generally are at the lowest they have been for some years, and we will be selling the launch phase of St Andrews – Nexus – at first-release prices, starting at under £200,000. It’s a great opportunity in a part of London that is going to be very fashionable in a very short space of time.”
St Andrews offers studio, one, two and three-bedroom homes in stylish contemporary buildings ranging in height from three storeys to 27 storeys – all set within landscaped grounds. In fact, the development will include a ‘pocket park’ complete with an installation by renowned community artist Bobby Lloyd.
July 1, 2009
www.barratthomes.co.uk/standrews
www.barratthomes.co.uk/standrews
Barratt Homes has unveiled the plans for the next phase of its St Andrews development by Bromley-by-Bow tube. A massive public relations campaign is underway, aimed to ensure the support of the ‘local community’. The publicity material that has come through the letter box of area residents is full of carefully considered public relations ploys such as sponsoring the local football team. They would have us believe that the main thing Barratt is concerned about is to serve the local community with high quality homes that people can rent or part buy, as well as provide local services.
However, if you look at the publicity material (see above) aimed at the buyers of the majority of units, which will not be for rent of sale at so-called affordable prices, then you get a different picture. The next phases of the development include two huge tower blocks – one 27 stories high. The advertisements highlight the proximity of the development to the new Olympic Park and stress what a good ‘investment’ these apartments will make. So depending on who you are – the public relations team will give out different messages.
These developments are springing up all over London. The strategic plans of the London Development Co-operation are for thousands of new ‘homes’ to be built. However, there are two issues here. Firstly, ‘homes’ is increasingly meaning ‘flats’ in a crowded high-rise, not exactly what Londoners aspire to. Fewer and fewer actual houses are being built because more money can be made by crowding more people into high rises on the same bit of land. The key word now being used is ‘high density’.
This was seen in the demolition of Robin Hood Gardens Estate by the Blackwall Tunnel. According to a local councillor Paul Briscoe, “Underlying the whole exercise is the desire to get as much density on the site as possible and the consultation was geared to that end. English Partnerships wants to clear the site as quickly as possible to increase density.” He is critical of the current plan to put in 3,000 residential units, some in high-rise towers. “It’s not good planning as far as I am concerned; we already have 8,000 units in the pipeline for the area. There has to be a limit to how much we can squeeze in. There’s a real danger of overdoing it and not creating a sustainable community in the long term.”
Shirley Magnitsky has campaigned relentlessly against the demolition and the Blackwall Reach Regeneration Project. “It’s got nothing to do with the design. The homes are run down because the council won’t spend money on them. This is a prime spot. That’s why they want to build 3,000 more homes here. The whole thing is about location and money.”(Information from an article by Rory Olcatyto, Feburary 29, 2008 in BD magazine.)
Though homes aren’t being demolished for the St Andrews Development, the same logic applies. Rather than build houses on the site, they choose to cram as many people as possible onto the land. The so-called affordable housing is but a smokescreen for their real aim of cashing in on the Olympics and the demand for luxury housing in a prime site. Property investors will most likely be the main buyers in such a development – buying low and selling high as the area takes off.
Secondly, it is questionable whether developments such as St. Andrews are actually needed to house Londoners. It seems odd to walk around London and see so many empty office blocks and ‘To Let’ signs on a variety of houses and flats. This is certainly the case around Bromley-by-Bow itself.
The only explanation for the continued expansion of new high-rise developments is that more money is to be made this way. No one will force property speculators and landlords to actually do anything with the properties already there and vacant, so the way to get new homes built is to let developers such as Barratt have free rein. They get hand-outs from government to build the ‘affordable housing’ and token community services. They can then hide their real intentions behind the facade of ‘providing houses for the local community’. Meanwhile, they can blackmail local government into granting planning permission for their main aim which is to tap into the luxury housing market. St. Andrews is in a prime location to attract investors thinking about cashing in on the Olympics and also the newly expanded transport links.
The end result is that East London is becoming transformed from an area of terraced houses and gardens and local high streets to one of towering high-rises and supermarkets, with the occasional sterile green space thrown in. There is no doubt that East London needs improved housing and services but there must be a better way of doing this. However, as long as profit is the main motivating force behind new developments all we are going to get is more such developments.
A history of struggle:nurses demonstrating at St Andrews Hospital, Bromley-by-Bow, 1979
Barratt set up its own Working Group, chaired by the Construction Director. It supposedly consists of representatives of different parts of the community. However, when asked which local groups they actually consulted with, Barratt was unable to give a clear answer. The only name given was a development quango – Leaside Regeneration, hardly representative of your average local resident. Certainly, my comments at the so-called consultation evening received very little sympathy or consideration.
Barratt has not yet received complete planning permission for these next phases. Let them know your views at info@standrewsbromleybybow.co.uk.
