November 2009

Hackney Council gives the go-ahead for huge mixed use development in Shoreditch

A huge new development at Bishop’s Place in Shoreditch has been approved by Hackney’s planning subcommittee, after changes to the original plans.

The 1.5 million sq ft project, designed by Foster + Partners, includes high quality offices, residential, a hotel, serviced apartments and a mix of retail space. The site will also accommodate 50 affordable housing units, comprising a mix of shared ownership and rental properties.

As well as including 233 Shoreditch High Street, the revisions to the scheme also see an increase in public open space, with 48% of the scheme’s footprint now allocated for public realm.

Martin Jepson, Managing Director, London Group, commented: “Bishops Place is an important catalyst for further investment within Hackney and the unanimous support of members demonstrates their commitment to regeneration in the area. The scheme is a vital part of Hammerson’s ongoing commitment to Shoreditch and we are looking forward to working with the Council in helping to deliver its long-term vision for the borough.”

Bishop's Place

2012 Olympics Site – Progress

The London Olympics site is dramatcially taking shape and many of the buildings are nearing completion.

The roof of Aquatics Centre (designed by celebrity architect Zaha Hadid) has been successfully lifted and lowered into place. The design of the roof is inspired by the fluid geometry of water in motion

The first of 11 residential plots in the Olympic Village has been structurally completed and the Olympic Stadium is looking very impressive

Euro zone exits recession

The euro zone economy jumped out of recession in the third quarter, data showed today, but with slightly less spring than expected after the area’s top three economies fell short of market forecasts.

Gross domestic product in the 16 countries using the euro rose 0.4 per cent quarter-on-quarter after five consecutive quarters of shrinking output, but was 4.1 per cent lower year-on-year.

Economists polled by Reuters had on average forecast quarterly growth of 0.5 per cent and a 3.9 per cent annual decline.

Germany, France and Italy all reported a third-quarter increase in economic output, but the German 0.7 per cent quarterly growth was below expectations of 0.8 per cent, the French 0.3 per cent increase only half of what was expected and the Italian 0.6 per cent fell short of the 0.7 per cent consensus.

The growth ends the deepest economic downturn in Europe since World War Two, brought on by a global financial crisis, but economists say recovery is likely to remain fragile.

The European Commission forecast on November 3rd that fourth-quarter growth would slow to 0.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the last three months of 2009 and then to 0.1 per cent in the first two quarters of 2010.

Growth is seen accelerating steadily from the third quarter of 2010 to reach 0.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2011.

Source: REUTERS

Gold V Buy-to-let

Poor interest rates and falling property prices have left wealthy investors looking for alternative asset classes to put their money into. A weak dollar yesterday pushed the gold price to a record high of $1,072 an ounce. Shoppers at department store Harrods are now able to buy the ultimate luxury accessory – gold bars.

Have these shoppers not heard of high yield buy-to-let investments with good capital growth potential in Central London? You could go to Harrods, or you could go to Findlay.

Some gold

Savills: Buy a House in London Next Year & Sell in 2015

The “ideal” time to buy a London home and cash in on price rises is the end of next year, housing economists said today.

Property prices in the capital are on track to fall 4.1 per cent again next year, wiping out this year’s recovery from January’s low.

But from 2011 they are expected to soar for the following five years by 31 per cent, researchers at estate agent Savills predicted.

Source: Savills