Karen, there is absolutely NO affordable housing. I went to the PAC meeting on Thursday 19th December. The argument from the developers is that the cinema and studios, etc... take up too much space which would otherwise be flats. In fact the developers are just extremely greedy! They gave the game away when the planning officer revealed that the CIL (old Section 106 levy) is to be just £400K, which is minute for a development of 168 luxury flats. This sum would apparently pay for just ONE (mediocre) flat in the new development OR two new flats in a poorer part of the borough, e.g. White City or Old Oak. In other words the average price of the 168 flats will be £1M (some penthouses at £5M, some smaller ones at the back at £400k), so the receipts will be £168M. Queen's Wharf was acquired by A2 Dominion for a knock-down £18M after planning permission was refused to the previous owner. Riverside Studios is free: the Council want to give it away. The cost of building is estimated by the Labour Councillor on the PAC who is a surveyor at £25-£30M. Total cost therefore is £50M, and profit is approx £118M, or nearly 250% of purchase price. No wonder the developers are rubbing their hands in glee! But we are NOT allowed to look at the developers' spreadsheet: that is confidential commercial information.
Secondly, if you look at the position of the cinema and the studios they are hidden away in the centre, with no access to either the front (Crisp Road) or the back (the river). They will be surrounded by luxury flats, which will be owned by absent foreign owners, or perhaps occupied by one or two tenants, usually working couples. The atmosphere in the new cinema and studios will be very different from the present, friendly one. The empty flats will be forbidding. Would you really want to go to a place of entertainment in the middle of flats which you know are a target for burglars? |