Central London property developer and contractor Mount Anvil has significantly expanded its new homes pipeline.
A series of strategic joint venture development deals has seen the business build a 4,125 pipeline of homes and 166,000 sq ft commercial space, valued at around £3.2bn (2016:£560m).
Mount Anvil said it had adopted a cautious approach in recent years to buying land through competitive bid processes in the over-heated London market, preferring to build long-term relationships with existing and potential partners
It said this long-term approach was now paying off and saw it exchanging contracts last year on three central London schemes with a combined capacity to deliver over 1,200 new homes.
So far in 2018, the development arm has stepped up its pipeline exchanging further contracts on 2,000 homes with a further 1,000 units at an advanced development stage of the legal process.
Its next build out scheme will be Royal Docks West, a 19 storey block next to Customs House Crossrail station in East London.
Meanwhile, a sharp rise in average home prices at existing schemes in 2017 to over £1m a home lifted group profit by 60% to nearly £12m from revenue of £225m.
The building contracting arm of central London developer Mount Anvil saw revenue rise 50% last year to £147m as several major schemes moved to full construction.
But pre-tax profits at the arm slid from £1.8m previously to just £300,000 last year.
Despite lower returns from construction, sales director Jon Hall said: “We are delighted with the success of our approach, which is focussed on maximising long-term profit, minimising risk and delivering a positive legacy.”
The strong financial performance of its schemes left closing net cash of £32m, after repayment of £25m of group debt, achieving the milestone of leaving Mount Anvil debt-free at 2017 year-end.
A major development of up to 3,000 new homes in east London has been approved after being called in by the London Mayor.
Building heights across Beam Park have been raised, some by seven floors
Plans to redevelop the former Ford assembly site at Beam Park in South Dagenham had been blocked after Havering Council refused permission claiming it would harm the character of the local area due to the height of the buildings.
But now developer Countryside Properties and London & Quadrant Housing Trust can build a £1bn neighbourhood at the 29-hectare site which sits alongside the River Beam in South Dagenham
Their ambitious plans include a new rail station, two primary schools, a nursery, community facilities, retail and open spaces, as well as the new homes.
As a result of negotiations between City Hall and the site’s developers, L&Q and Countryside, the proportion of genuinely affordable homes has been raised from 35% to 50%, as well as building heights which has been upped by as much as seven storeys since the original plan was submitted.
The site straddles the border of two boroughs: Previously Barking and Dagenham Council approved the development but Havering Council refused permission, over concerns it would harm the character of the local area due to the height of the proposed buildings.
London’s Deputy Mayor for Planning, Regeneration and Skills, Jules Pipe, said: “This is a large, very important site and these plans will deliver 3,000 much-needed new homes, along with transport, schools and community facilities to help make this a liveable and attractive new neighbourhood for this part of east London.
“Having weighed up the evidence available to me and given the overall importance of the application, I have decided to grant approval.
“The wider area around Beam Park has the potential to deliver thousands of new homes and jobs, and could play a crucial role in London’s economy in the decades to come.”
House builder Bellway has broken through the 10,000 homes barrier for the first time in its history.
Bellway ups completions by 7% to 10,307
A near 7% rise in completions to 10,307 homes saw Bellway revenue rise by around 16% to a record of almost £3bn.
In a year-end trading statement chief executive Jason Honeyman said anticipated operating margin of around 22% would lead to another year of significant earnings growth.
Bellway ended the year with net cash of £99m (2017 – £16m), despite spending £784m on strengthening its land bank.
Honeyman said: “Bellway has responded positively to the favourable market conditions, completing the sale of over 10,000 new homes, while retaining a clear focus on quality and customer care.
“In doing so, the group has set a new earnings record and yet, having invested significantly in land, has ended the year with a strong net cash position.”
He added that the pricing environment remained stable, with many sites still able to achieve low, single digit increases, predominantly for affordably priced homes, located in areas of strong demand.
As the year has progressed, the rate of house price inflation moderated. Higher value homes across the country have, at times, experienced slower sales rates and occasionally required a greater use of incentives.
Honeyman said: “Trading has been robust and notwithstanding wider political and economic uncertainty in the UK, Bellway has both the financial and operational strength to respond opportunistically to future changes in market conditions.”
London developer Fenton Whelan is in talks with firms to start its £450m luxury residential scheme of 57 flats in Kensington, central London.
190,000 sq ft Park Modern residential scheme will kick-start regeneration of the Queensway area
The 190,000 sq ft mixed-use development, known as Park Modern, will boast views across Kensington Gardens onto Kensington Palace in central London. Flats will be priced from £2m to £30m.
Work is set to start in October on the three-year build once demolition of existing buildings is complete.
The super prime residential scheme, which also includes 30,000 sq ft of retail space, will be located on a prime freehold city block next to Queensway London Underground station, bordered by Bayswater Road, Queensway and Inverness Terrace.
The Park Modern project will spearhead the regeneration of Queensway into Bayswater Village, a regeneration scheme championed by Westminster City Council.
It will make a total public contribution of £18.3m which will be used to deliver £11m of affordable housing as well as a series of important public realm improvements, including a new Royal Gateway into Hyde Park at South Queensway.
Sanjay Sharma, co-Founding Director at Fenton Whelan said: “Prime London mixed-use schemes don’t get any better than this, a unique offering of Royal neighbours, a parkside address and Palace and garden views.”
South East developer Southall Montreaux Development has submitted its masterplan for over 2,000 homes in Ealing.
The major new neighbourhood scheme designed by Assael Architecture will redevelop an old margarine factory site in Southall town centre.
It will see homes delivered in high-rise blocks and the retention of the original façade of the Maypole factory, which was once the largest margarine producer in the world.
Named Margarine Works, the 12-acre project will play a huge role in the wider regeneration of Ealing with a new 1 acre green park at its heart.
The project will be delivered in phases, with start on-site for the initial stage planned for Autumn 2019. The first homes are due to be available in 2021.
Damian Stalley, managing director at Montreaux Developments, said:“It was a real team effort by everybody. We’ve been impressed by the speed at which Assael and our project team went from concept to planning submission in just6 months.
“The pre-application advice from Ealing has been vital to informing our emerging proposals and hitting these timeframes.”
Benefitting significantly from the Crossrail station planned for Southall, additional infrastructure upgrades in the masterplan include a new pedestrianised bridge over the railway, which will further enhance pedestrian movement through the site and the wider area.
Anglo-American joint venture Argent Related has submitted proposals for a major redevelopment of central Tottenham Hale.
The scheme will see construction of six buildings containing 1,036 new homes alongside 15 new retail spaces; co-working and office space and a health centre.
The planning application encompasses five pieces of land earmarked for change, supporting Haringey Council’s vision of a new ‘district centre’ for the area.
The council is expected to consider the application later this year.
Tom Goodall, the Director at Argent Related leading the project, said: “Tottenham is an inspiring part of London.
“Its street life, clusters of artists, adventurous young businesses, and the breadth of opinions, cultures and aspirations we have encountered have directly contributed to our proposals for Tottenham Hale.”
Facebook has struck a deal to locate its UK HQ at the Kings Cross Goods Yard regeneration site, kick-starting another major construction scheme spread across three buildings.
East elevation showing new Canal Reach building looking north along Canal Reach
The deal to take 610,000 sq ft paves the way for work to start on 11 and 21 Canal Reach and P2, the last major sites on the long-running regeneration scheme.
While not quite the same scale as the Google HQ at 1m sq ft on the site, it ranks as one of the most significant commercial deals in London this decade – booking 15% of the total 4m sq ft commercial space at King’s Cross at a stroke.
Curving facade of the Canal Reach buildings seen from HS1 railtracks
Buildings 11 and 21 Canal Reach have been designed by architect Bennetts Associates and have detailed planning permission, featuring 10 and 12 floors of modern Grade A office space respectively (415,000 sq ft in total).
With expansive double-height receptions and 42,000 sq ft of landscaped roof gardens and terraces, the buildings located in the ‘Western Yards’ of King’s Cross offer their users uninterrupted views over Central London.
Contractor BAM had previously been mooted as the likely builder for the two curving office blocks on the northern part of the site. But it is not known yet whether Facebook will want to appoint its own builder through a fresh tendering process.
P2 on Lewis Cubitt Square, for which a reserved matters planning application was submitted in June, is designed by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris. It will provide nine floors of office space (196,000 sq ft), alongside a new theatre for London, a fifth-floor wraparound terrace and retail space at ground level.
Facebook plans to open its new offices in King’s Cross in 2021.
Hammerson has decided to defer the start of its £1.4bn extension of the Brent Cross shopping centre.
Laing O’Rourke will deliver the main construction package for joint owners Hammerson and Standard Life Investments.
Enabling works were due to get underway this month.
The Enquirer understands a joint venture between Graham/Hochtief has secured the first major infrastructure works deal.
But the woes sweeping the retail sector have caused a rethink at Hammerson which unveiled a new strategy and cost cutting drive in half year report today.
Hammerson said: “Given the current turbulence in the UK retail markets and whilst alternative uses of capital offer higher short-term financial returns, we have decided to defer the start on site at Brent Cross.
“Whilst we have decided to defer the start on site of the scheme, it remains an important strategic project and we continue to recognise its role as one of London’s leading retail destinations.
“It also forms part of the wider Brent Cross Cricklewood regeneration plans encompassing improved road and rail infrastructure and significant residential development and we remain engaged with retailers and stakeholders towards the future delivery of the scheme.”
There has been a “significant” rise in homes being valued at less than what buyers have agreed to pay, the UK’s largest mortgage advisers have said.
These “down valuations”, by lenders, can mean buyers having to pay thousands of pounds extra, up front, to avoid the sale collapsing.
Estate agents Emoov said it reflected surveyors predicting a financial crash.
UK Finance said lenders, which it represents, were right to ensure property values were realistic.
The organisation said borrowers also benefited from houses having an “independent valuation”.
‘Covering their backs’
The mortgage advisers London and Country told the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire programme that the number of its advisers seeing down valuations on a daily basis now “outweighs” those who do not.
Emoov, one of the UK’s largest digital estate agents, said one in five of its sales now resulted in a down valuation.
Two years ago, it was fewer than one in 20, it added.
This is the highest rate since the UK’s financial crash in 2008, according to agents from 10 mortgage adviser groups contacted by the Victoria Derbyshire programme.
Emoov’s chief executive Russell Quirk said he believed it was the result of surveyors – who carry out the property valuations for the mortgage providers – “simply covering their backs”.
He added: “Surveyors are prophesying a [financial] crash. The system is built to protect them.”
Down valuations
After a buyer agrees the price of the house with a seller, the mortgage provider uses a surveyor to check what they believe the house is worth.
The surveyor, employed by the mortgage provider, looks at the sale price of similar properties locally, market conditions in the area and the current condition of the property.
If the surveyor believes the house is worth less than the agreed sale price, say by £10,000, this is known as a “down valuation”.
It means that if the buyer cannot negotiate a new price for the house with the seller, they will have to find the extra £10,000 up front or risk losing the house.
Those with the smallest deposits and who have remortgaged their house after doing renovation work are most likely to be affected by down valuations.
Down valuations have been blamed for an increase in housing chains breaking down across the UK.
Ebony Roberts and her fiancee Jalisa Andrews, from Port Talbot in South Wales, have experienced two down valuations while trying to buy their first home together.
“We got right through to the very end stages of buying a house we had our hearts set on… but then we had a problem when the mortgage valuation came back,” Ms Roberts said.
“We had a down valuation of £10,000. The seller would not drop their price, so we lost that house.”
Then it happened again, on another property.
Worried they would lose that house too, they borrowed £5,000 from family members at short notice.
“Our broker even said, ‘You’re having a bad run,'” explained Ms Andrews.
Image caption Phil Broodbank says the surveyor did not look inside his house when valuing it
Those remortgaging their houses after doing renovation work are also among those most affected by down valuations.
Phil Broodbank, from Wirral, bought his house for £180,000 a few years ago and spent up to £25,000 renovating it.
When the time came to remortgage, a surveyor valued his house at £200,000 without visiting it in person – in what is known as a “drive by”.
This valuation was £20,000 lower than a local estate agent had valued the property.
Mr Broodbank blames the surveyors for what happened.
“They didn’t actually take a look at the property. For all they know the inside could be a complete shell.”
The surveyor’s valuation would have meant Mr Broodbank paying around £50-a-month extra on his mortgage over five years, as his interest rates would have been higher.
Instead, he says he lost hundreds of pounds in fees by choosing to go with another bank, who valued his property at £220,000.
UK Finance, which represents the banking industry, said: “Lenders have a responsibility to ensure that the value of property taken as security on mortgage loans is current and realistic.
“Although the valuation is carried out for the lender, borrowers also benefit from a realistic independent valuation as it could help them avoid paying over the odds for the property they are buying.”
Haringey Council has ripped-up its planned £2bn regeneration deal with developer Lendlease.
The decsiion was made by the Haringey council cabinet
The north London borough’s cabinet confirmed the decision at a meeting on Monday night.
Lendlease was chosen last year to partner the council under its Haringey Development Vehicle JV to build 6,400 new homes across the borough over the next 20 years.
The scheme has provoked opposition which has intensified since May’s local elections which saw a number of Labour councillors deselected and the fomer council leader resign.
Lendlease is understood to be considering legal action following the decision after spending millions on bidding costs.
