It’s the first time architect Make has used virtual reality to help an inspector assess a new development, marking a significant moment for digital construction.

225 Marsh Wall residential tower will be built next to the Madison high rise near Canary Wharf

The 48-storey project at 225 Marsh Wall will replace an existing multi-let office building with 332 flats, and will be directly to the east of The Madison tower being built by Balfour Beatty.

The residential project was recommended for approval by London Borough of Tower Hamlets planning officers in late 2017, but was refused by elected members of the Strategic Development Committee.

The planning inspector has now granted planning after being helped by virtual reality visualisation at the site.

Frank Filskow, lead architect on the project from Make, said: “At a time when it is agreed that more homes need to be built, that provide amenities and community benefits, we are delighted with this result.

“This is the first time we have used Virtual Reality to help the inspector assess the scheme on site and it made a real difference.

“This will make a great sister building to The Madison which we also designed for LBS Properties and fits with the wider masterplan for the area, delivering wider benefits for the community including a nursery and retail.”

Nick Crawford, managing director at LBS Properties, said: “We are delighted to have received planning permission for this significant development, that will provide high-quality new homes, commercial space, and extensive public realm, contributing to the evolution of the South Quay area as an attractive place to live and work.

“It will combine with The Madison, due to complete in 2020, to provide a new public square for Marsh Wall East, and over 750 new homes in two slender towers.”

The first site will be The Timber Yard on Pershore Street.

The 1.5 acre regeneration scheme will include 379 apartments for private sale, complete with hotel-style foyers, concierge, private gymnasium, club lounge and cinema/screening room.

The apartments will be in two 13-storey and seven-storey blocks.

The Galliard Apsley Partnership has four other residential projects in the pipeline across Birmingham providing 2,800 apartments.

Mark Evans, Knight Frank’s Head of Regional Residential Development, said: “Birmingham welcomed over 7,500 people migrating from London last year, more than any other city in the UK.

“As the city’s renaissance continues at speed, we anticipate this flight out of the capital to continue as people search for greater value and higher yielding residential investments.”

David Galman, Sales Director at Galliard Homes said: “For over 25 years Galliard Homes has helped young professionals and individual investors get onto the property ladder and this launch will continue our work in Birmingham and give the city the benefit of Galliard’s value-for-money London style product for which our brand is renowned.”

Growth for next year has been downgraded to rise by only 0.6% with this year now expected to be flat amid Brexit uncertainty and on-going delays in the delivery of major infrastructure projects.

The Construction Products Association’s Autumn Forecast predicts that even this growth will depend on the Government extending help to buy and driving ahead with major infrastructure projects to hit the expected output peak of £23bn by 2020.

Over the last 12 months, the equity loan accounted for almost one-third of all house building sales, particularly sustaining demand  in the North and Midlands which has offset falls in London and the South East.

The housing sector’s output is forecast to rise 5% in 2018 and 2% in 2019 – but this assumes government will extend funding for the scheme beyond 2021. Without an extension, housing starts are expected to start declining from 2019.

Infrastructure, the other primary driver of growth, is forecast to achieve a historic high of £23bn by 2020, driven by large projects such as HS2 and Hinkley Point C.

But forecasters remain concerned about government’s ability to deliver major infrastructure projects without the cost overruns and delays seen recently on Crossrail.

Caution surrounds the forecast, and growth in the infrastructure sector has been revised down to 8.7% in 2019, from its previous forecast of 13%.

Brexit uncertainty continues to drive expectations for the sharpest construction decline in the commercial sector, particularly felt in the offices sub-sector.

Investors have signalled the uncertainty is too high to justify significant up-front investment in new floor space for a long-term rate of return, and output is expected to fall 10% in 2018 and a further 20% in 2019.

Noble Francis, Economics Director at the Construction Products Association said: “Construction continues apace in some sectors such as house building, particularly in key hotspots of activity such as Manchester and Salford. Overall, we are still expecting construction output to increase next year but this growth is highly dependent on house building outside London and also major infrastructure projects offsetting falls in activity in other sectors.

“The forecasts assume that the UK and EU will agree a deal on Brexit towards the end of the year but the continued uncertainty over a ‘No Deal’ Brexit has already had a big impact on construction new orders in construction sectors dependent on high upfront, often international, investment for a long-term rate of return.

“These include the construction of prime residential in London, industrial factories and commercial offices towers.

“Even if the UK government eventually agrees a deal with the EU on Brexit, construction output in all these sectors is expected to fall sharply during 2019 due to falls in new orders, which have already occurred in the past 18 months, feeding through to activity on the ground.

“Major infrastructure projects are expected to drive industry growth in 2019 and 2020 but the £600m cost overruns and nine-month delays to Crossrail add to existing concerns about government’s ability to deliver major projects and lead to additional concerns about the delivery of already delayed projects such as Hinkley Point C and HS2.”

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.

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.

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.”

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.