This week’s exclusive interview is with John Banson of L&Q, who tells us in detail about the property market in the area he’s working and the range of new homes the company is building right now.
Hi John, please tell us a little about yourself and L&Q.
Hi, I’m the head of regional sales for L&Q’s North Region, a role I took up in September last year. I have 14 years of experience in the property sales sector – prior to L&Q, I worked with developers such as St James, Barratt, Berkeley and A2Dominion. I have worked in various roles starting as a sales consultant, to project sales manager, to regional sales manager and now head of sales on a range of schemes.
L&Q is a leading housing association and residential developer, founded over 50 years ago. We’re proud to be playing a key part in helping shape some of the most exciting, diverse and dynamic regions in the country, primarily London and the South East. In fact our development team has recently undergone a restructure around four key regions: North London, South London, East London and the Counties, in order to increase output and achieve our ambition to enable the delivery of 100,000 new homes over the next ten years.
It’s been an exciting few months for L&Q – in January we launched the charitable L&Q Foundation, which will invest £250m into supporting our social housing tenants and the wider communities in which we work. This will include investing in grass-roots projects through Place Maker 2020, a new pan-London fund launching in spring. A brand new training academy has also been created which will offer apprenticeships and career opportunities and address skills shortages.
What developments is the company working on at present?
We recently launched the first new homes for sale at The Rushgroves, a community focused development in Hendon comprising 387 homes. Hendon has a bright future – it’s such a diverse and well-connected area of London, with new investment making it more attractive than ever before, and The Rushgroves is conveniently located with lots of transport links and green spaces nearby. One- and two-bedroom apartments are now available for outright sale, with prices beginning from £364,000 for a one-bedroom apartment.
Additionally, the second phase of sales at The Quarry in Bexley will launch this spring. Spanning 20 hectares, the 600-home development will breathe new life into the disused quarry site in South East London, which has lain neglected for the past 40 years. The development has sustainability at its heart and builds on the natural ecology of the site.
Weavers Quarter is a collection of high-quality Shared Ownership homes built in partnership with the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Once complete the development will deliver 221 new homes to the area, as well as a new park, landscaped areas and two new schools.
Furthermore we are also working on an exciting flagship scheme, Barking Riverside in East London, a joint venture between L&Q and the Greater London Authority (GLA). This development will create a brand new neighbourhood of 10,800 homes along 2km of Thames river frontage. Barking Riverside’s commitment to improving the local infrastructure means that the development will feature new schools, a new London Overground station, healthcare facilities, open space, public squares and parkland. It will also include 65,000sqm of commercial floor space including restaurants, shopping, community and leisure facilities with an ambition to create a new night-time economy in this part of the borough.
Do you have a current favourite site?
The Rushgroves will have a really nice community feel to it – homes will be built around communal areas and green spaces, and the development acknowledges the history of the local area, with the pathway design that meanders through the site based on the nearby Silk Stream.
To celebrate the first release of homes, we recently launched our new #HelloHendon campaign, with the aim of celebrating the best of what the area has to offer. This began with a partnership with Middlesex University, where students answered a real creative brief to develop a series of short films highlighting some of Hendon’s hidden gems – you can watch one of our favourite videos here.
We also recently launched a design project with Barnet and Southgate College students, who are producing a range of designs for display on the boundary hoardings at The Rushgroves, providing them with valuable commercial experience and putting their creative skills to use.
Are there any places in particular where demand has been very strong?
We have noticed an increasing demand for housing in the popular West London areas of Chiswick and Brentford, where we have started construction on much needed new homes at The Gateway development, on the Wheatstone House site in Brentford, due to go on sale later in 2018.
Additionally, regeneration and new infrastructure including Crossrail has seen South Acton’s popularity rise – you’ll be able to get to Bond Street in only nine minutes on the new Elizabeth line. The neighbourhood will be further transformed with Acton Gardens, a dynamic development in West London, built in partnership with Countryside, with 2,500 new homes. The development recently won The Regeneration Award and a Project Award at the Housing Design Awards.
What is it about your sites and homes that stands you out within a very busy new homes market?
L&Q creates high-quality homes and places people love to live, and our award-winning approach designs thriving communities to suit a whole range of aspirations, incomes and stages of life. We also invest in places for the long term – our charitable community foundation aims to build opportunity and confidence in each area, and helps local people into sustainable careers.
Social purpose is also at the core of our work – L&Q is committed to the belief that everyone should have a quality home they can afford. Half of the new homes we build over the next 10 years will be genuinely affordable to people on average and lower incomes, with the other half available for private rent or sale. On top of this, all of our profits are invested back into providing more new homes and services for our residents.
Who is buying at the moment? Is not qualifying for mortgages keeping out many younger potential buyers?
We find our properties are popular with a wide range of buyers, thanks partly to schemes such as Help to Buy and Shared Ownership. It’s a key aim of ours to make homeownership available to everyone. We expect The Rushgroves will be particularly popular with first time buyers and young families, thanks to the transport links and local schools, such as The Hyde School, rated as ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted.
Are assistance schemes like Help to Buy and Shared Ownership vital to would-be homebuyers?
Our focus is on designing thriving communities to suit a whole range of aspirations, incomes and stages of life, and this means ensuring value for money on our developments. Many buyers still prefer purchasing homes through outright sale, and developments like The Rushgroves are well suited to young families looking to upgrade to a larger property in a more affordable part of London. However, Help to Buy and Shared Ownership schemes can be really helpful for first-home buyers and help ensure home ownership is open to as many people as possible.
Is the 'Bank of Mum and Dad' also a major help to some of your buyers?
There is a huge diversity of buyers in London so it is important that available housing caters to people of all income levels. For some, family can be a big help when purchasing their first property.
What's in the pipeline for L&Q over the next few months?
Reading Borough Council has resolved to grant planning approval to L&Q to build 765 high-quality homes in Kenavon Drive, a short walk from Reading Station, to alleviate the pressures on housing and rejuvenate the local area.
Working with leading architects PRP, the whole development is driven by transformation; bringing substantial regeneration through the delivery of homes close to the town centre, together with beautifully curated new public open spaces and a comprehensive landscaping strategy. The 765 homes, of which 157 will be affordable for local people, are a combination of one-, two-, and three-bedroom flats as well as a selection of family houses.
Transport infrastructure is vital for a development of this size, and L&Q are accompanying the homes with over 300 parking spaces, a dedicated bus stop, and improved walkways to the excellent bus and rail network in Reading town centre.