PRESS RELEASE
July
2006
WORK STARTS AT FIRST LONDON-WIDE
INITIATIVE
DEVELOPMENT – ADELAIDE
WHARF
Work
has started on a pioneering development which will see the first new affordable
homes for key workers being built as part of the London-Wide Initiative.
First
Base, the residential-led urban regeneration developer, and English
Partnerships, the Governments national regeneration agency, joined Housing and
Planning Minister Yvette Cooper in marking the start on site at Adelaide Wharf
in Shoreditch. Adelaide Wharf is a mixed use development including 147 homes,
of which more than half will be affordable homes, including a significant
proportion dedicated for Key Workers.
English Partnerships launched the London-Wide
Initiative (LWI) as a pilot to fast-track more quality affordable homes in
Greater London. The pilot scheme, based on 15 English Partnerships owned sites,
will deliver up to 4,000 homes over the next five years of which around 1,500
will be for sale at discounted prices or homes for sale for Key Workers and
First Time Buyers.
Adelaide Wharf is the first of these schemes and is due to
be completed in the summer of 2007. Comprising 74 key worker and affordable
homes, and 73 private homes, with no visible difference between tenures,
Adelaide Wharf will be a high quality, extremely well thought out and
sustainable development, 30% of which will be three and four bedroomed family
homes split across all tenures. The development will
also include 700 sq m of affordable workspace that will be assigned to a
community run regeneration agency. It
exemplifies the First Base approach to housing development that aims to
transform urban spaces and build communities.
First Base will utilise Modern Methods of Construction
throughout and sustainable products in the manufacturing process to deliver a
development that is high quality
Commenting
on the development and official commencement of works, Yvette Cooper, MP,
Minister for Housing and Planning said, "We need to build more homes
across the board for the next generation - more market housing, more social
housing and more shared equity housing - to help first-time buyers and reduce
overcrowding too.
"New developments must be truly
mixed communities including affordable homes to rent and buy as well.
"Adelaide
Wharf is a great opportunity to fast track affordable housing in the city where
more homes are needed."
John
Callcutt, CEO English Partnerships, said, ñProviding affordable homes for key
workers in the capital is the primary aim of this project. I congratulate First Base on bringing
forward not only a well designed scheme but one which will provide high quality
new homes where key workers will want to live and will be able to afford to
live.
Elliot
Lipton, managing director of First Base, said, ñWe are delighted to be pushing
ahead with the first London-Wide Initiative project with English Partnerships.
The London-Wide Initiative demanded a greater supply of
better quality housing for Key Workers and First Time Buyers and First Base is
in a position to deliver. Our business proposition is to challenge standard
practices. By harnessing international and commercial best practice and
applying them to the UK housing sector, we can deliver higher quality homes
offering improved value for money.
Adelaide Wharf is not just another development, it will be
a community with spirit, with strong management including common standards of
maintenance, a mix of tenures and incomes and a sense of safety and security
for all residents. This is an
important milestone in the delivery of mixed tenure housing by the private
sector and exemplifies the capability of public private partnerships.
The
ground-breaking ceremony was celebrated at a reception held at The Tannery,
Laburnum Street, a neighbouring art studio. First Base will be commissioning
artists from The Tannery to create art for Adelaide Wharf.
-ENDS-
For
further information please contact:
For
First Base:
Catherine
Greenwood / Lynda Redington
/ Jessica Gooch
Tel:
0207 9086488
Email
cgreenwood@lexispr.com / lredington@lexispr.com / jgooch@lexispr.com
For
English Partnerships:
Catherine
Snow
Tel:
0207 531 2465
E-mail: catherinesnow@englishpartnerships.co.uk
NOTES
TO EDITORS:
ENGLISH PARTNERSHIPS
English Partnerships is the governmentÍs
national regeneration agency. Our aim is to deliver high quality, sustainable
growth in England. We do this by developing out portfolio of strategic projects
and acting as the governmentÍs specialist advisor on brownfield land. We also
ensure that surplus public sector assets are used to support wider government
objectives, especially those contained in the Sustainable Communities Plan.
English Partnerships helps to create communities where people can afford to
live and want to live, and supports the urban renaissance by improving the
quality of our towns and cities. Information on projects and programmes can be
found at www.englishpartnerships.co.uk
The London-Wide Initiative pilot scheme was
launched to fast-track more affordable homes in Greater London. The scheme will
focus on a portfolio of sites, selected as a test-bed for introducing a range
of new ideas for the delivery of homes. The pilot scheme will deliver up to
4,500 homes over the next five years of which around 1,500 will be affordable
homes for key workers. Three development partners have been selected to work in
partnership with English Partnerships to deliver homes through the London-Wide
Initiative; First Base, Key London Alliance and a consortium led by Countryside
Properties plc.
FIRST BASE
Transforming Urban Spaces and Building Communities
First Base is the residential-led urban regeneration
developer that creates stylish homes in great urban spaces.
¥
It transforms the way that properties are built - using best practice modern
construction methods that keep costs low yet quality high, embrace
sustainability and ensures value for money.
¥
It transforms the way that communities are formed - with a mix of tenures, a
range of homes, a commitment to high quality management and services that make
friends of neighbours.
¥
And it transforms the way that style meets function - with attractive designs, inside
and out, that do more than simply look good.
Designed by
renowned architects, built by skilled craftspeople, managed by experts, First
Base homes are quality, sustainable properties for purchase or rental.
In the 2006 RIBA
ïTop 50 ClientsÍ survey, First Base was rated number 31for its innovative
approach to quality design, using renowned architects including AHMM, Richard
Rogers Partnerships and Fletcher Priest for a range of projects across the
capital.
First Base is
currently involved in a range of projects that will deliver mixed tenure
housing in London and the south east:
¥
selected as a
Development and Management partner with English Partnerships as part of
the London-Wide Initiative First
Base is working on five sites which will deliver over 1,000 homes, in London
¥
working with
Blackstone / Generation in a development and construction management role on
the KX200 regeneration project in Kings Cross to deliver a mixed-use scheme
comprising predominantly affordable student accommodation to over 850 students.
¥
selected as 1
of the 4 private sector organisations to participate in the Housing
Corporations New Partnerships in Affordable Housing Pilot. The scheme is
intended to create a wider market for the delivery of mixed tenure homes as
well as develop a new competitive framework for the Housing CorporationÍs
investment programme.
¥
selected as a
development and delivery partner to East Thames Group to implement their
ambitious housing plans in London.
¥
in
partnership with Lend Lease, First Base have been selected by the London
Borough of Newham for the regeneration of Canning Town and Custom House, and
are one of three short listed for the £1.5bn regeneration of Elephant and Castle.
For further
information please visit www.firstbase.com