HELLO, IS THERE ANYONE THERE? [published
Q1- 2000]
It
was always going to be difficult to replace the London Docklands Development
Corporation (LDDC) when the Government quango that regenerated the derlict Docks
was wound up…
In an attempt to avoid difficulties for inward investors, the LDDC rushed into a print with a leaflet, The Successor Bodies to the LDDC, but only managed to make things worse, with contact problems still seeking a remedy two years later.
For the leaflet lists 21 (yes 21) "Successor Bodies" — enough to frustrate any potential investor who can’t find the right person to take his money. Which of the four boroughs does he put his £millions into, whose land can he buy and who will help him buy it? Who, demand developers, will move enough for me to meet my corporate requirements?
The leaflet carries entries from LB Newham, LB Tower Hamlets, LB, Southwark and LB Greenwich is a latecomer to catch private investors. There are Government quangos like British Waterways, British Waterways Marine Office, Commission for New Towns, and English Partnerships whose task is to complete all infrastructure projects ongoing at the point of the LDDC’s wind-up, together with the disposal and development of Corporation land in the Royal Docks."
Then there is Docklands East London, who have taken over the corporate logo of the old LDDC but appear mired in a bureacratic mud. A recent move to a permanent hime in the Royal Docks might help, although it didn’t do much for the English Partnership’s fast-track aspirations.
One frustrated developer told us he had wanted to do a £70M development in the Royal Docks, but two years on he is still waiting for English Partnerships to put the 22 acres on the market. "In the meantime we have gone to Edinburgh and its Docks and got several major schemes going in no time at all."
London Docklands
Online executives assisted in several major deals and many smaller ones in Docklands
in 1999 and there are groups of funders ready and waiting to invest in good
ideas for the area. Contact us for bargain apartments, blocks or sites.
See Premium Key for current portfolio.
EARLY
BIRDS ARE GO [published
Q1- 2001]
It happened again this New
Year. No sooner are the Docks-based overworked estate agents and property professionals
recovered from the excesses of the extended holiday period than would be buyers
and renters are hammering on their doors.
This Early Bird phenomenon, which has occurred regularly since 1986, has resulted once again in a flying start to the sales season. Sometimes the main reason is pent-up supply from the unusual hectic final quarter of the year on other occasions it is the City bonuses, which get paid out in February.
The Docks and City market is likely to remain strong for the first quarter due to a good supply of properties from housebuilders and half of this could be mopped up through buy to rent investors as they realise there is 25 percent less rented accommodation compared with the first quarter last year.