Old Kent Road scheme gets the go-ahead from Southwark Council
The green light has been given by Southwark Council to developers Avanton and Urban & Provincial for the £130 million (GDV) redevelopment of a former Carpetright warehouse.
The warehouse, located at 651 Old Kent Road, will be transformed into new homes, of which 40% are set to be affordable housing. Developed in partnership by Avanton and Urban & Provincial, the Carpetright scheme is set to deliver 262 homes, including 170 for private sale, and 20,000 sq ft of commercial space on the ground floor of the buildings, designed around three large outdoor spaces.
The homes, designed by Farrells, will be found in two towers, reaching ten and 19 storeys high respectively. The design focuses on creating ‘an ambient community and landscaped spaces for residents to enjoy’.
A significant proportion of the homes will be three and four-bedroom homes, to meet the local housing need.
The scheme is the third part of Avanton’s regeneration masterplan for the area, which is designed to deliver more than 2,100 homes with a total project GDV of £795 million. This makes Avanton the biggest developer along the Old Kent Road, which has been crying out for investment for many years after a post-war decline.
The Carpetright development is designed around a large community park which connects to the adjacent Ruby Triangle site (also set to be developed by Avanton), with many of the homes in the scheme set to have private balconies and access to residents’ roof gardens. Since Covid-19 lockdown restrictions were put into place, Savills has recorded a substantial increase in enquiries for homes with gardens, with buyers wanting access to meaningful outside space. This is a trend that the property experts forecast will continue.
Omer Weinberger, chief executive of Avanton, commented: “Avanton is committed to our extensive regeneration plans on Old Kent Road, with a trio of important sites that will bring new homes, amenities and public space to the area. We are delighted that Southwark Council has approved our plans for the redevelopment of the former Carpetright site into a new £130 million scheme.”
He added: “The design focuses on creating a sense of community and providing extensive outdoor space for residents to enjoy, which is proving more than ever to be a key priority for buyers. Old Kent Road is an excellent location that is truly accessible to many Londoners with most units qualifying for the government Help to Buy scheme, which makes the units attractive both to owner occupiers and long-term investors.”
Luke Osborne, director of Urban & Provincial, added: “Old Kent Road is undergoing an exciting £10.7 billion regeneration with new homes, and workspace for up to 10,000 new jobs, commercial, retail and leisure facilities. The former Carpetright warehouse, which is circa 25,000 sq ft.in size, is currently vacant, which will allow construction to start without delay.”
He said that works are planned to begin in early 2021, with completion in Q4 2022. The development of the scheme will create 120 jobs, to be prioritised for residents of the borough. “The location is equidistant to Central London like other locations such as Clapham, Islington and Pimlico,” Osborne concluded. The developers intend to partner with an affordable housing provider and start
development as soon as early next year.