Dylon works - FT reports L&Q buying bulk for social housing

[Sydenham]

So Dylon Works development might not now have as many private homes as originally expected if report in today's FT is accurate. Seems developers are not getting the individual private sales they expected at the price they want so bulk buying landlords moving in taking them at a discount to original expected price. Same thing across London.

Good news for social housing sector and those seeking to get somewhere to live outside private rented sector.

"The chief executive of Crest Nicholson, Patrick Bergin, said last month the housebuilder had sold 69 homes at the Dylon Works development in south London to a housing association. “We did this [sale] because we knew we would otherwise have [unsold] built stock,” he said. “With the discount, compared with the costs of holding stock and the costs of marketing, we generally find a bulk sale can be achieved at a level that makes a contribution to ebit [earnings before interest and tax] even if not at the gross margin we had anticipated.” "

https://on.ft.com/2O2btgU

https://www.ft.com/content/99072e92-8a6 ... 71d5404543

[maestro]

Bromley Council are currently objecting to any further residential development of this area (Worsley Bridge Road and not "Lower Sydenham Road" as the article mistakenly states).

http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/16362 ... -rejected/

[JayB]

The developers have been trying to sell Dylon appartments week after week with massive advertisements in The Standard- clearly to no avail. They, or perhaps the second tier landlords are also very active on social media trying to lure(or con?) potential buyers with misrepresentation about the availability of public transport,(trains every 30 mins last direct one from Charing X at 22.05 pm ) saying there is easy comnnection to the overground at Sydenham station (in reality there is one bus to Bell Green every 20 mins in the day and every 30 mins in the evenings and all day Sundays) showing beautiful photos of the view of the church down Lawrie Park Avenue- some two miles away! Given the inconvenient reality of living in lower Sydenham perhaps the developers should have priced far more realistically in the first place and rather than shout down people who want to see improvements in the area, have joined in by adding their not inconsiderable influence to improving transport, aesthetics and pollution levels in the area, selling on the basis that it is "up and coming" rather than trying to gloss over the self- evident issues of our areaa - do they think buyers, even if from overseas as absent landlords , and tenants won't soon notice the reality?

[alywin]

“In addition, there are fundamental issues in terms of amount, scale and detailed design of the proposal that would seriously threaten the character, place making and functionality of the area as well as giving rise to a poor standard of amenity for future residents.”

Difficult to believe this is the same Bromley Council which has already put through one eyesore in the town centre and is now trying to approve another one!

I'd guessed that the developers were having trouble selling, just by the sheer number of adverts around. So some more "affordable" housing - great!

(BTW, what's happening to that swish development up on the hill, can't remember what it's called, the one with the marvellous views over Sydders?)

[alywin]

They, or perhaps the second tier landlords are also very active on social media trying to lure(or con?) potential buyers with misrepresentation about the availability of public transport,(trains every 30 mins last direct one from Charing X at 22.05 pm )

???

The last train to LS is at past midnight!

[JayB]

They, or perhaps the second tier landlords are also very active on social media trying to lure(or con?) potential buyers with misrepresentation about the availability of public transport,(trains every 30 mins last direct one from Charing X at 22.05 pm )

???

The last train to LS is at past midnight!

No that is not a direct train and hasn't been for quite some time.

[alywin]

Charing Cross 2337 all week, arrives LS 0001. Half-an-hour later Thursday to Saturday.

[alywin]

Developers now offering to pay mortgage and service charge for the first year on selected flats.

[alywin]

(BTW, what's happening to that swish development up on the hill, can't remember what it's called, the one with the marvellous views over Sydders?)

Forgotten its name AGAIN - something with Wells Park in the title? - but they were still trying to get rid of one of the properties a few weeks back.

[The Clown]

Wells Park Place?
They didn’t receive sign off for occupation on time apparently and buyers were frustrated because the move date kept... moving.
Although I think it’s sorted or almost and some will be taking occupation now(ish)
All local gossip, so not entirely sure.

From the website, Most of the flats appear to have been sold with the exception of some of the terraced houses. The townhouses seemed to have sold reasonably well but not the terraces. I think it is the townhouses with the wonderful views, not sure about the terraces, or what they overlook.

It seemed like a reasonably attractive build though.

[simon]

I've been inside one of the townhouses with the marvellous views. They are nice but have tiny little gardens and, to be honest, I would rather pay the same for the last house on Longton Avenue with a decent sized garden.

[maestro]

Developers have won their appeal against Bromley Council and are now intending to build a new development of 254 units. Can't see the point in the current market when much of the first phase had to be sold off for social housing because they couldn't get rid of them, plus, long term, there are plans to shift Lower Sydenham station away down the track nearer Sainsbury's. With no shops nearby, who'd want to live there?

https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/1835 ... y-council/

[RJM]

Developers have won their appeal against Bromley Council and are now intending to build a new development of 254 units. Can't see the point in the current market when much of the first phase had to be sold off for social housing because they couldn't get rid of them, plus, long term, there are plans to shift Lower Sydenham station away down the track nearer Sainsbury's. With no shops nearby, who'd want to live there?

https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/1835 ... y-council/

Actual, concrete plans to move the station? Or a lot of suggestions? All I've seen is the latter and unless a developer (or one/both of the councils) is paying for it then I doubt it's a Network Rail priority to shift it. If there's something going ahead, then great - I'd like a shorter, better lit walk to it!

[maestro]

Well who now knows what financial resources will be available for such redevelopment schemes once we're through this national crisis. However, the traffic bottleneck created by Lower Sydenham railway bridge (which still, as far as I'm aware, remains the second most struck in the UK) is something that long term, is surely going to have to be resolved. I am aware of a meeting which took place in Lower Sydenham latter part of last year, where council officials expressed their concerns about the bridge, the need to ideally relocate Lower Sydenham station since it is considerably underused, and because a new station will be required anyway if the proposed Bakerloo Line extension takes place. Planning officials considered that a possible solution would be to demolish the bridge, widen the road and build a new station directly over the bridge, with a single central platform to keep the site compact. Presumably the station would then extend to the North side of Southend Lane adjacent to Sainsbury's. There's also been discussions about demolishing the Sainsbury store and building a smaller one, surrounded by a mixture of housing and other retail units. Originally built as a 'Savacentre', this I believe was the last one that Sainsbury built as their accountants began to realise that the larger stores simply are nowhere near as profitable as the smaller/medium sized ones. This is why you'll find they have recently had to merge any local Argos stores inside their larger Sainsbury stores to save costs. Also there are discussions to redevelop the whole Kangley Bridge Road area, which has become a major crime hot-spot for muggings, smash and grabs from commuters cars and a fly-tippers paradise. So nothing concrete but this whole area is certainly overdue for regeneration, and having lived in it for over 30 years it can't come soon enough.

[JGD]

Lewisham Council has acknowledged it is holding several millions of pounds of monies ingathered from the several s106 agreements signed off by the Council with the developers of each of the phases at Bell Green.

The first of these agreements goes back to the mid-1990's. Importantly, it must be understood that Interest has been accruing on these monies.

A substantial portion of these agreed funds was originally targeted on proposed works on and around the bridge over Southend Lane. A broad expectation exists that this should have been expended on a project with a scope that embraced a new bridge build, road widening and introduction of safety measures for pedestrians.

On presentation of summarised reports of these outstanding and in the main unexpended monies, to the Council, supported by Cllr Alan Hall, the Council has committed on two occasions in the last year to conduct a full examination of that list of s106 agreements and the status of the associated funds.

The latest commitment was made around the time of the last Bellingham Ward assembly in mid-February 2020 at which a Council Officer attended and identified himself as having been delegated the task by Emma Talbot, Head of Planning, of examining these positions, to scrutinise the several pockets of monies and to provide a full report on the matter.

In parallel, Cllr Alan Hall also reported the matter to LB Lewisham's Corporate Complaints unit, requesting that they monitor the correspondence on the matter as this issue is long outstanding. From the mid 1990's to April 2020 - that is over 25 years.

The Council's record on these matters cannot be described as exemplary nor speedy over this number of years and here we are now in April 2020 and still no update has been issued. The Council will of course be able to point out, in this latest instance, that CV-19 has impacted on their performance on the short term. They are after all focused in managing the emergency that we are all engaged in.

So the final value is yet to be reported. Its baseline is certainly over £3m. By the time a final accounting has been completed and compound interest values calculated the sum will probably exceed £4m+. But we must refrain from being over-jubilant whilst the final answer is awaited.

Once the total value has been determined, the next key decision will be how it is to be decided that it should form part of any allocation towards a new bridge build and road widening project. Followed quickly by how negotiations will be conducted with the infrastructure owner, Network Rail - and by whom. The Council's negotiating strategy will be enhanced by an accurate funding statement and Network Rail's business case for a bridge renewal will be significantly influenced by such a significant contribution from the Council.

Bridge widening will remove the choke-point that badly delays traffic in both directions. A revised layout will unlock so much of the potential to improve traffic flow in a large scale all around the Bell Green "gyratory" and associated roads.

Maestro, I did not know this was the second most bashed rail bridge in the UK. You learn something every day.