Forum Topic

New Homes Trinity Square in Hounslow,

They kept this quiet from local residents People have been camping out on the streets for two days straight to buy £199,000 "starter homes" that belong to a new development in London.Trinity Square in Hounslow, London, is London’s largest purpose-built starter home scheme, with 228 properties ranging from £199,000-£315,000 in price. Over 40% of the entire development is priced below £250,000.The flats are specifically designed and priced for first-time buyers and first-time investors by Galliard Homes and range from studio and larger two- and three-bedroom flats to penthouses.Already 1,559 people have registered a sales interest in the Hounslow project."At this new Hounslow project it's anticipated that people will start queuing in the rain today for the launch which is tomorrow evening," a representative from Galliard Homes told Business Insider UK.Rest of story herehttp://uk.businessinsider.com/galliard-homes-trinity-square-starter-homes-in-london-cost-where-to-buy-queues-and-uk-housing-shortage-2015-11

Bernard Allen ● 3832d1 Comments

Just to cut and paste my response to the same thread on W4:What none of the articles about this mention is that this particular development is one which has resulted from the office to residential 'prior approval' procedure, which  allows offices to be converted into residential units without requiring planning permission, and the only matters that the Council can take into consideration are flood risk, contaminated land and transport/parking.  No requirement to provide either on-site affordable units or an off-site contribution etc.There's a similar (albeit) considerably smaller scheme in Brentford Market Place where the units created are significantly below minimum planning policy standards in terms of both overall unit size and room sizes, but because it's a prior approval Councils are powerless to refuse on such grounds.Don't get me wrong, I've secured plenty of prior approvals for clients myself, but none of mine involving providing what is essentially 'substandard' units - it does show how 'sick' the London market has become when people are happy to spend £200k just to own a glorified matchbox.

Adam Beamish ● 3832d