Tag Archive for 'regeneration project'

London’s Elektron Towers

Published
by
Property Know Team
on November 5, 2006
in Property Know
. 0 Comments

Remember the articles about the “Sky Towers in Canary Wharf” and about “London and the Olympics 2012” – if you don’t you should go and have a quick skim read through them because, this article directly follows on what has been mentioned and its impact to the London Property Market - especially with regards to Canary Wharf.

What we will be talking is the launch of the West “Elektron” Tower near Canary Wharf.

london-property-development

The Elektron Development site is situated on the north side of the river Thames directly opposite the Millennium Dome. The London Property Development headed by Barratt’s Homes will encompass 3 towering 25-story blocks. Currently all of the Phases of the first 2 Tower Blocks built are now sold out. Barratt’s have now announced the launch of the “West Tower” and yes that means it is the last one and the final phase!

1 Bedroom apartments are going from £219, 995 – and for the current London Property Market it is affordable compared to many other areas.

Transport wise the Elektron has easy access to the “East India” Docklands Light Railway Station, which is only 4 DLR stops away from Canary Wharf and 1 DLR stop away from the Jubillee London Underground Line.

london elektron

In our opinion (emphasis again, in our opinion) we believe with all the regeneration projects surround Canary Wharf and the East of London, it may be worth a visit to the Elektron and surrounding Property Developments. As first time buyers the properties are reasonably priced especially for its area; and for investors this may be that ideal property investment that you were looking for.

Good luck!

Images are taken from the Barratt’s Website www.barratthomes.co.uk

Wood Wharf - another Canary Wharf?

Published
by
Property Know Team
on October 27, 2006
in London Property Market
. 0 Comments

Following up from the previous post on the developments that will hopefully be booming forth from Canary Wharf comes Wood Wharf. Situated right next to Canary Wharf, it seems to be part of the expansion plan that the British Waterways Company have to the East of London. The plan is to turn the 20 acre Wood Wharf into an additional North Eastern Corner of the Isle of Dogs.

Just like Canary Wharf, Wood Wharf was historically used for the shipping and storage of cargo, for Wood Wharf’s case it was Timber.

So what do the British Waterways Company want to do with Wood Wharf?

Since they have the freehold of Wood Wharf, they can pretty much or less do what they want! But as wise budding property investors they are planning it to be another extension to Canary Wharf. A complete re-haul of the place and turning it a big regeneration project. Unlike some Property Companies, they are looking more towards a long term strategy and are weighing up the pro’s and con’s of developing certain properties.

Their main goals are to provide:
• New Employment Opportunities
• New Secure Places to live
• Enhance and preserve the water space in the surrounding area
• Create new community facilities and retail/leisure services

What have they come up with?

British Waterways Company are calling in “The Master Plan”. With the aim of creating; 3.4m square feet of commercial floor space, 1,500 new homes, open public space and a new canal bisecting the site.

So keep your eyes open for Wood Wharf. This is all planned to be completed by 2011, a year before the Olympics come to London.

Thinking Outside The Box - Greater London

Published
by
Property Know Team
on October 23, 2006
in London Property Market
. 0 Comments

Taking another look outside the London Property Market, and peering into the edge of Greater London, Kent.

Kent is a county in England, south-east of London. The county town is Maidstone. Kent has land borders with East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London, and a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames estuary. Kent also has a nominal border with France halfway along the Channel Tunnel. The two cities in Kent are Canterbury, the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Rochester, the seat of the Bishop of Rochester.

Ferry ports, the Channel Tunnel and two motorways provide links with the European continent. There are airports at Manston and smaller airfields at Headcorn, Lydd and Rochester.

Kent Property Market versus London Property Market

Rental value growth in Kent has been less volatile than the South East and London, over the past ten years. Kent has experienced a 2.5% increase in rental return values, notably higher than the UK average of 1.9% and compared to a 0.9% for London (These Figures are for Office Rental). Not bad for outside London hey?

With regards to its Residential Performance, 2006 has seen a great improvement in terms of house sales. For the annual percentage rise some places have seen rises of up to 8.1% (Dartford), however taking the flipside there have been places with a -2.1% - so be careful! The overall annual percentage growth for the County is expect to be around 4% - 6% which is slightly above the National Forecast.

However these figures are forecasts and with the strife happening in the Middle East, and the increased oil prices and the uncertainty of Interest Rates we can only try to forecast as accurately as possible and take in the potential threats to the forecasts.

Areas that are anticipated for strong growth are the Dartford and Tunbridge Wells areas, both of these areas are in Greater London. Many London Property investors expect the ever increasing Property Prices of London to have a ripple effect on its surrounds areas; such as Dartford and Tunbridge Wells. In these ares there are a large number of “buy to let” investors who are striving on a strong rental demand, and are averaging gross yields of 4.6%.

The set back about Dartford and Tunbridge wells is the lack of public transport available. Both areas have direct access to London however, the journey times can take up to an hour with a normal average of 40 minutes travelling time. Kent Council are looking at ways to improve the current Public Transport Infrastucture.

London and Dartford
Greater-London-Dartford