Building new homes for Marks Gate

We have spoken to Rose Lane Primary School and understand that they already have plans to expand.

It’s important to note that we expect these properties to be available for letting no earlier than 2023.

There are two different types of properties.  To apply for the properties with the lowest rents (we call these London Affordable Rents which basically means you pay the same as you would for equivalent council properties) you will need to be on the council’s housing register.  

The other homes (at Affordable Rents, which are at 80% or local market rents) will be let through the Council’s housing organisation called Reside.  You can email them to register your interest at  enquiries@bdreside.co.uk

We have approached Transport for London (TfL) formally to discuss the development and also the Whalebone Lane/ A12 junction traffic, as some feedback received anecdotally has suggested the traffic lights are out of sync, adding to the traffic problems in the area. Unfortunately, the control of this aspect is with TfL, and as such Be First can only continue to raise the issue of traffic on Marks Gate.

Within the proposed development, we anticipate over 120 new car parking spaces to be included, this would provide approximately 50% of new properties with parking spaces. Our Transport Consultant has undertaken a recent parking survey in the local area surrounding the proposed development to assess the unrestricted spaces. Their report states that during the over night survey, approximately 38% spare capacity was identified on Padnall Road, and 41% spare capacity was identified on Longhayes Avenue.

We intend to provide two property tenures at the following rents:

• London Affordable Rent (a rental rate which is set by the GLA and is not market dependent)

1 bedroom properties start at £159 per week, 2 bedroom £168 per week, 3 bedroom £178 per week.

• Affordable Rent (this is charged at 80% of the market rate)

Current rates are or 1 bedroom properties £166 per week, 2 bedroom £185 per week, 3 bedroom £230 per week.   Rents for Affordable rental properties depend on the market rates, so these rental rates may change in the future as they were taken from a market report commissioned in November 2019.

The London Affordable Rent properties will be available via the council’s Choice Lettings system to people on the Housing Register.  For the Affordable Rent people will need to register with Reside.   There is a link in the top right hand corner to register. See here.

For all forms of tenure including Shared Ownership, we are still working with the council to look to include some fair measures to assist local residents when applying or purchasing.

The precise plans are still to be determined and we will be working with residents to decide this.  In fact, we will be running two workshops for residents to  look at the improvements to Padnall Lake and the open spaces in particular, on 17 March. They will be at 1.30 – 3pm or 6.30 – 8pm. If you would like to get involved please let us know which session you would like to attend. Email us at community@befirst.london or call 020 3372 0707.

We agree with you that the maintenance is very important and we will be talking to residents and working with colleagues at the council (who run the Rangers service) to consider how best to do this.

We will also be liaising very closely with the council to ensure that the bin collection to the new properties is taken care of and that general standards of cleanliness are maintained.

On buses, we will employ a transport consultant to advise on appropriate measures to mitigate any additional congestion.  Once we have a plan we will refer it to Transport for London (TfL) for comment.  TfL is responsible for public transport matters such as buses.  If TfL feel there is need to ask for contributions towards improvements to bus services they will do so and we will negotiate with them on this point. We also hope to enhance the paths and to encourage more use of sustainable transport, such as cycling, walking and to improve the subway to the estate under the A12.

At the moment we’re not able to specify the quantities of land allocated to public and private spaces, as we are so early on in the design process with our architects. We would aim to have approximate answers to this at our first public consultation in February. Our aim is to maximise the public space on the development whilst balancing this with the affordable housing need.

It’s worth adding that the Mayor of London specifies a minimum area of dedicated play space based on the types of home proposed.  Based on the number and type of homes that the council has asked us to build, we expect to provide around 1,700 square metres of dedicated play space in this development.

So far, we have conducted preliminary arboriculture and ecology surveys. We will need more detailed surveys to establish the exact environmental enhancements that may be needed depending on how the designs evolve.

We intend to conduct an Air Quality Assessment in the near future and use the data and recommendations to inform specific air quality measures required in this development. We’re acutely aware of the air quality in this area along the A12 and any housing built immediately adjacent to the A12 will be designed with this in mind.

On transport, we will employ a Transport consultant to advise on appropriate measures to mitigate any additional congestion.

Once we have a plan we will refer it to Transport for London (TfL) for comment.  TfL is responsible for public transport matters such as buses.  If TfL feel there is need to ask for contributions towards improvements to bus services they will do so and we will negotiate with them on this point.

We also hope to enhance the paths and to encourage more use of sustainable transport, such as cycling, walking and to improve the subway to the estate under the A12.

Cycle parking will be provided in-line with the GLA standards.

Through the planning system, there is a mechanism for us to pay what’s known as the Community Infrastructure Levy to the council to provide support for things like schools, health centres and transport improvements (in fact for anything that is on the council's list). The amount is determined by the floorspace in the development.

And, we have been talking to the local school and also to the local GP and health providers to underline that there may be additional demand on their services.  We will continue to talk to them to keep them involved throughout, and to allow them to prepare accordingly.

We also plan to provide community space as part of the development.  We are open to what this might be, and a lot of residents talked about youth facilities at our meet the team event.  How this might be financed in the long-term, will of course depend on what use is agreed.

In the next few weeks we will employ a transport consultant to look at the issue and advise on appropriate measures to mitigate any additional congestion.  We also hope to encourage more use of sustainable transport, such as cycling, walking and to improve the walkway to the estate under the A12. 

Our intention is to try to improve the quality of the green spaces and the Lake, at the same time as addressing the shortage of housing in Marks Gate. Affordable new homes are badly needed in the area, but we believe that if we're creative we can create better habitats for birds and wildlife and better play areas for the children too.  We'd welcome residents thoughts and suggestions about how we can do this best.