Top 60: Build to rent development of the year

“These are four fantastic schemes.

“We’re seeing real innovation in designing spaces specifically for renters, making it an attractive long-term option and much more than a stop-gap to homeownership. We’re also seeing developers tuning into the lifestyles of renters, engaging them as customers, not just as tenants.”

Brian Ham, Home Group, Top 60 judge

 

City Wharf (see main picture)

Number of homes in development: 327
Cost: £173m

The scheme: A2Dominion’s aim at City Wharf in south Hackney, London, aims to rejuvenate a hard landscaped industrial area into a thriving community. Before the 35,400-home housing association’s development, several large warehouses stood on the canal-side site, which was designated for light industrial use.

These days City Wharf is a collection of 327 apartments, 53 of which are for private rent, in four low-rise buildings situated along Wenlock Basin, part of the Regent’s Canal network. Designed by Stephen Marshall Architects, the exterior of the buildings gives a nod to the timber industries that thrived in this area in the 1800s. Inside the homes, there are several references to the site’s industrial history, including wooden floors, metal feature pegboards and stylish industrial clamp lights.

The scheme’s rooftop terraces provide outstanding views across the capital, while at the ground level the landscape has been left wild with open courtyards and tall, mature trees lining the banks of the canal.

Alongside the flats for private rent, there are 153 for private sale, 52 shared ownership homes and 69 for affordable rent. More than half the properties available for purchase have been sold since the launch in spring 2015.

Tipi

Number of homes in development: 141
Cost: 451 units will be developed in total at a cost of around £150m

The scheme: Everything at this private rented sector development of two apartment buildings in Wembley Park, London, was designed to meet the needs of ‘generation rent’. Priced out of the capital’s housing market, these tenants are looking for a new type of rented home that would make their lives as hassle-free as possible.

The buildings - named Montana and Dakota - were constructed by property investor Quintain, and let under its private rented sector brand Tipi. The 141 one, two and three-bedroom flats offer renters high-spec in-built appliances, their own balconies or terraces, and a host of other facilities. Quintain plans to develop 451 apartments for private rent at Wembley Park.

The apartments, available to rent from £1,600 per month, are provided unfurnished, part-furnished or fully furnished, with the latter option meaning that everything from beds to contemporary artwork and teaspoons are all in place when tenants move in.

Hotel-inspired services include a 24-hour concierge, night security, secure underground parking, bicycle storage, and an onsite Tipi team, which arranges luxuries such as housekeeping and dry cleaning for residents. The design, by architects GRID, means that tenants have privacy, but also feel part of a community. Outside, there is an acre of landscaped gardens with water features, and inside, the development has two social spaces: the Deckhouse, which includes a pool table, a high-definition television with Sky Sports and terrace, and an area with soft seating and a TV. A well-equipped gym will open soon.

Wapping Wharf

Number of homes in development: 194
Cost: Around £40m

The scheme: When 38,000-home Sovereign got involved in 2012 in the first phase of the Wapping Wharf development - which will eventually consist of more than 600 homes in the harbour-side area of Bristol - it was unusual for a housing association to work on the provision of private rented properties, particularly outside of London.

Yet together with partners - private developers Umberslade and Muse, Bristol Council, 11,000-home housing association Knightstone and the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) - Sovereign has gone about regenerating an area in the heart of the city, developing a mixed-tenure scheme.

Taking on the 55 private rented homes in the first phase of the development is part of Sovereign’s long-term strategy to diversify, seeking new sources of income to support the building of affordable homes as well as meeting the needs of the communities in which it works.

The first phase of development was made up of 194 apartments - with the remaining homes made up of 113 for private sale and 26 affordable homes. A second phase will deliver a further 320 homes in total, more than 80 of which will be affordable.

The HCA committed £12m from its Get Britain Building fund to the scheme, alongside investment from the joint venture partners. Sovereign has invested around £11m and has taken on the management of 55 private rented units, while Knightstone will manage the 26 affordable homes.

Fizzy Lewisham

Number of homes in development: 136
Cost: £40m

The scheme: Fizzy Lewisham offers tenants a simple, but welcome proposition: a brand new flat in a secure building, with quality furnishings, and a landlord they can trust.

The 15-floor development currently comprises 68 apartments, including a mix of one and two-bed flats, and a further 68 homes will come to the market in 2017 when a second identical building is completed.

The development forms a key part of Lewisham Gateway, a partnership that will transform this area of south-east London, adding more than 700 homes, 65,000 sq ft of retail, restaurants and commercial space, and a major new urban park with enhanced waterways, along with improvements to the public realm, bus, taxi and cycling facilities.

Fizzy is a private rented sector business owned by 14,500-home Thames Valley Housing Association and Silver Arrow, an investment entity ultimately owned by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, with additional investment by Macquarie Capital. It now has five developments in London.

Its role at Lewisham Gateway is to provide much needed homes for private rent, particularly focused on professional 25 to 35-year-old tenants looking for an easy commutable base to Canary Wharf and central London.
Like all of its developments, Fizzy Lewisham has its own onsite property manager and high quality fixtures and fittings, but is topped off with a roof terrace complete with barbecue area, garden and views across Greenwich, Blackheath and the capital’s skyline.