Five buildings ranging from 7 to 29 storeys are proposed for the 0.8 hectare Fairfield Homes site next to the recently opened Fairfield Halls cultural venue.

Architect MICA designed four of the buildings, comprising 343 homes, while Common Ground Architecture designed a 78-home block.

The latest planning application builds on a 2017 planning consent, nearly doubling the number of homes from 218 and increasing the affordable housing from 18% to 20%.

Once planning consent is gained, the developer aims to start work early next year.

Value from the development of the Fairfield Homes site will be used to cross-fund Vinci’s £40m refurbishment of Fairfield Halls, which overran by £11m.

Colm Lacey, chief executive of Brick By Brick, said: “We have carried out extensive demolition and enabling works, on the site and we look forward to continuing this most exciting and vitally important project.

“This development has allowed us to fund the spectacular transformation of Fairfield Halls, which opened this month.

“Together, the schemes are fundamental to Croydon’s ongoing renaissance, adding to its fast-growing appeal as a place where people want to live, work and visit.”

The Fairfield Homes site is bound to the north by Croydon College, the College Tower site and Mondial House, both of which have planning consents for buildings of heights above 35 storeys and to the east is the mainline London to Brighton railway line.

Sir Robert McAlpine is construction manager to complete the Electric Boulevard phase of the project after replacing Bouygues during the preconstruction phase last year.

The new debt facility was raised from its existing lenders to continue with the delayed phase.

So far facade contractor Permasteelisa has been signed up for the main glazing package and specialist T Clarke will deliver the M&E works.

Phase 3 of the Battersea Power Station project will contain over 1,300 homes, a hotel, shops and restaurants.

The 42-acre site will also contain a public park and be served by a new Tube station on the new £1bn Northern Line extension, due to open next year.

It has been designed by architects, Gehry Partners and Foster + Partners.

Areal view of Foster’s undulating Battersea Roof Gardens building next to Ghery’s cluster of five buildings

Foster’s Battersea Roof Gardens will be styled in a subtle 1930s theme inspired by the Power Station. The northern hooked-shaped end of the building will be home to the art’otel, a new 167-room hotel boasting a rooftop swimming pool and bar.

Ghery flower building

Gehry’s Prospect Place comprises a cluster of five buildings each with striking sculptural façades inspired by London’s famous John Nash Regency terraces.

Each individual building has its own style. ‘The Flower’ building will sit at the centre of The Electric Boulevard forming a focal point between the other buildings and is destined to be a new landmark for London.

Now Redrow will press ahead with plans for 513 new rental homes in Southall and Colindale which will be professionally managed under the UNCLE brand.

They are the house builder’s third and fourth PRS schemes, as it aims to diversify its offering into private rental homes.

The £119m deal at Redrow’s flagship Colindale site in North London will see construction of 347 new flats.

The announcement follows the £82.7m deal Redrow announced with M&G Real Estate last year which brought a further 186 new rental homes to Colindale Gardens as well as 211 homes sold to L&Q in 2016.

Located in the Burnt Oak and Colindale Opportunity area, Colindale Gardens is a £1.2bn new community, which is being created by Redrow on the site of the former Peel Centre Metropolitan Police training college.

More than 2,900 new homes will be delivered over the next ten years.

At Southall in West London, Redrow will also deliver 166 one, two- and three-bedroom apartments in a £64m deal with Realstar.

The site sits adjacent to Redrow’s existing scheme The West Works, where the housebuilder is currently delivering 302 new homes as part of a mixed-use scheme.

Mark Parker, Managing Director of Redrow London, said: “Both Colindale and Southall are quickly defining themselves as new property hotspots as they undergo significant inward investment.”

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets will now consider plans put together in partnership with FirethornTrust.

The proposals include a 400 bedroom hotel and 279 serviced apartments which will create 300 construction jobs during the building phase.

Jonathan Manns, Head of Planning & Development at Rockwell said: “We are extremely proud of our proposals, which will maximise employment and training opportunities whilst significantly enhancing South Quay and the surrounding area.

“Rockwell is committed to the redevelopment of Quay House and we are excited to transform the currently vacant building into a landmark mixed-use development.

“This application follows extensive engagement with the local community and, drawing on inspiration from New York’s “highline”, the proposed public realm responds directly to the feedback we received from our consultation events.”

The £400m redevelopment plan will see up to 700 mixed-tenure homes built at Juniper Crescent and Gilbeys Yard estates next to the Camden Goods Yard site.

These two estates are separated by a large Morrisons supermarket, which is to be demolished to make way for a separate 600-home mixed-use scheme being jointly developed by house builder Barratt and the supermarket chain.

Countryside will jointly plan, design, fund and deliver the regeneration of both estates, subject to a positive resident ballot, over an eight-year programme.

A resident steering group has been part of the procurement team to select the joint venture partner following a vote to redevelop the site fully.

Residents will continue to be consulted prior to a final ballot in March 2020 to decide on the future of their estates.

Sketch of Juniper Crescent rebuild plan

Andy Fancy, managing director, Partnerships South (North and South), Countryside, said: “We are thrilled to be partnering with One Housing on this landmark mixed-use regeneration scheme in the heart of Camden.

“We are looking to deliver more than three times as many high-quality homes including affordable homes as well as ensuring that local residents benefit from attractive public open spaces and crucial local amenities – all vital in creating sustainable communities.”

Gilbeys Yard redevelopment plan

Under the plan residents living on the estates would be temporarily moved elsewhere while the building work took place, before returning to a brand new property on Juniper Crescent and Gilbeys Yard once they had been built.

Work on the estate rebuild should begin on the ground some time in 2020.

Intu has plans for up to six residential blocks, replacing a House of Fraser store and car parking space.

Located at the south end of the centre, this new development would bring a mix of over 1,000 homes to rent, catering for individuals, couples and families alike.

It will seek a joint venture partner to deliver the planned expansion.

Martin Breeden, development director at intu, said: “Our aim is to create something very special, that will sit alongside an established and thriving destination where we have already invested £72m in a fantastic new leisure development.

“Our long-term vision is to create a vibrant new community right on the doorstep of one of the UK’s best retail and leisure destinations.”

Development proposals and full public consultation will then follow in the coming months.

Intu revealed the fresh development strategy at the start of 2019 after suffering a tough year in the teeth of a deteriorating retail sector and booking a loss of more than £1.1bn due to downward property revaluations.

By intensifying development at existing sites, intu estimates potential for 5,000 flats and 600 hotel rooms.

Its six major out-of-town centres comprise 760 acres of land, of which less than 40% has buildings, multistorey car parks or distribution roads upon it, leaving 470 acres of surface car parks and other potentially developable land.

Developer Queensgate Investments and Rockwell aim to redevelop the Kensington Forum Hotel in West London with a landmark new hotel, serviced apartment and conference scheme.

Designed by architect SimpsonHaugh, the Cromwell Road proposal will replace the existing 906 room hotel, recognised as a local eyesore, with a 750-bedroom quality hotel and 340 serviced apartments.

The scheme, which will rise to 29 storeys, will provide 62 genuinely affordable social rented homes, worth £90m – the first private development in London to deliver a 100% genuinely affordable homes.

A further £2.8 m will be put towards public realm improvements to the area around Gloucester Road station.

Jason Kow, Chief Executive of Queensgate Investments, who own the Kensington Forum said: “Queensgate Investments is proud that the Mayor has resolved to grant this unique opportunity to create one of London’s largest hotel and service apartment schemes, whilst also delivering for the needs of the local community and Londoners alike.”

Holiday Inn on Cromwell Road (left) will be demolished to make way for the new scheme

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea has consistently failed to meet the Mayor’s housing targets in recent years, and the Mayor has pushed his planning powers to their limits in order to deliver more affordable homes in the borough.

In April, the Mayor refused permission for the redevelopment of Heythrop College in Kensington Square – which included just 3.3 per cent affordable housing – after the council had approved it.

Last September, the Mayor gave permission for Newcombe House in Notting Hill, having called it in following the council’s decision to refuse the application. After the Mayor’s intervention, the level of affordable housing was increased from 17 to 35%.

Just 105 private and public buildings over 18m have completed remediation works from the 433 identified to have been fitted by unsafe aluminium cladding.

Slow progress and lack of ambition to make buildings more resistant to fire has been thrown into the spotlight by Grenfell campaigners who have projected warnings on tower blocks in London, Manchester and Newcastle.

Also industry fire protection chiefs have warned that even the Government’s fresh planned changes to building regulations don’t go far enough.

Jonathan O’Neill, managing director, Fire Protection Association, said he wanted to see a total ban on combustible building materials on all high-risk buildings, such as schools, hospitals, nursing homes, blocks of flats – not just those buildings over 18m.

“We also want a ban on single staircases in all tall buildings, because in the event of a fire you need at least one staircase for people to be able to evacuate the building, and a second staircase for the fire and rescue services for entry,” he said.

There is also growing concern about the performance of other cladding materials like high-pressure laminates.

It is estimated that a further 340 high rises are clad with these sort of materials. Last month the Government commissioned the FPA to carry out tests on HPLs.

Also in May, the government committed to fund the remediation of high-rise private sector residential buildings with ACM but funding guidance criteria will not be published until July.

So far the government has placed a ban on combustible materials on new high-rise homes, which came into force on 21 December with a two-month transitional period.

Last week the government published consultation on recommendations set out in the Hackitt Review for a new safety regime for designing and building high-rise homes.

The 4.25-hectare site will be a new cultural and education centre in East London.

It will be home to major new buildings for the Sadler’s Wells dance theatre, the BBC, the Victoria and Albert Museum and a new campus for the University of London’s College of Fashion.

The mayor’s office also granted planning for around 600 new homes within a complex including a 27-storey landmark tower.

Mace is leading project and construction management of the commercial part of the scheme which is presently in advanced procurement.

The scheme has been designed by a collaborative team of Allies and Morrison, O’Donnell + Tuomey and Camps Felip Arquitectura.

PJ Careys has the £16m contract for substructure work on the site. Select Plant also was awarded a £5.4m contract for hire of six tower cranes on the job.

Speaking on behalf of all the East Bank partners, Lyn Garner, chief executive of the London Legacy Development Corporation, said: “This is a huge milestone for the project and testament to the hard work, and commitment of all those involved.

“East Bank will be the glue that binds together the different elements on the Park from world-class visitor attractions, high-tech business districts, thousands of new homes and wonderful parkland and open spaces.

“Now, with planning permission in place for the biggest and most exciting culture and education project for a generation, we can start to deliver on the promises for jobs, skills and homes for east London.”

The other parts of East Bank are UCL East, a pioneering new campus for UCL in the south of the Park and the V&A’s new Collection and Research Centre will be located at Here East in the north of the park.

Last year, the Mayor confirmed that at least 50 per cent of new homes across the remaining development sites on the Park – Stratford Waterfront, Pudding Mill and Rick Roberts Way – will be genuinely affordable.

The firm plans to regenerate the 6-acre Abbey Retail Park into a riverside urban-village called Abbey Quays, which will provide over 1,000 homes of mixed tenure.

Designed by architectural practice Broadway Malyan, the scheme also includes a new riverside restaurant, a Max Whitlock MBE athletes training centre and a community hall.

The site was a retail park owned by Estates & Agency Group during the 1980s who join Weston as joint developer.

Once a ‘Section 106’ legal agreement has been signed Barking & Dagenham Council will grant planning permission.

One of the biggest urban renewal projects in East London, ‘Abbey Quays’ will front directly onto the River Roding, a tributary of the River Thames

The flats will be built in 13 blocks split across three buildings, ranging from seven to 29 storeys.

These buildings will be arranged around a pair of large communal landscaped podium gardens for occupants to utilise.

Bob Weston, Chairman & Chief Executive of Weston Homes said: “The regeneration of this important Gateway site into a new waterfront urban-village adjacent to Barking town centre forms part of the Borough Council’s vision of bringing aspirational waterfront living to Barking.

“The regenerated site will provide much needed affordable local housing for local Londoners, further enhance the local community and compliment the existing centre.”

In Tudor times the site was a quay servicing the adjacent Barking Abbey and village. By the 19^th century it was a vibrant fishing village, becoming an industrial zone during the Victorian era and thereafter.