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New resident Valdette Suhodolli |
Rooms with view of social gulf
Development which sparked sit-in
hailed for bringing ‘all incomes together’
WORK on a controversial £85 million development
that will give Swiss Cottage 171 new homes is coming to an end.
But a social gulf separates the new owners of flats and penthouses
worth up to £5 million and people from the Town Hall’s
waiting list who will move into social housing built alongside
the luxury apartments.
The building process was dogged with controversy, with protesters
staging a 45-day sit-in as they fought to keep the developers
out.
Under a public-private partnership deal Barratt agreed to build
a new leisure complex on the site at the corner of Winchester
Road and Adelaide Road in exchange for land for its 124-flat
development, where only 20 homes remain unsold.
Opponents of the scheme wanted the public housing share of the
development to be bigger, but the Town Hall maintains the deal
with Barratt saved council tax payers £41 million. The
council contributed £14 million towards the new sports
centre, now valued at £55 million.
The Town Hall now has a new sports centre, two new swimming
pools, a gym, climbing wall, squash courts and dance studios
– and 42 homes to ease pressure on council house waiting
lists. Tenants are now moving into the affordable housing, where
rents range from £89 to £105 a week. By contrast,
at The Visage development – as Barratt has named its new
block – prices range from one-bedroom flats starting at
£446,000 to four-bedroom homes at £1.3 million.
A further five penthouse suites on the roof cost between £2.5
million and £5.5 million. Only one has been sold.
With 118 flats going for at least £500,000, Barratt can
expect a return of much more than £67 million.
At the new social housing flats, new resident Valdette Suhodolli
– who is moving with her two children and husband from
the Regent’s Park estate in Hampstead Road – is pleased
with her new home, apart from the lack of natural light and
ventilation in one of the bedrooms, which has no windows.
She said: “I am happy to move into a place like this. I
don’t have an outside space on the Regent’s Park estate.
It is great for my children.”
At the nearby Visage show home, visitors enter through a glass
atrium to be greeted by a concierge, while a frosted glass lift
takes them up to the flat.
On a clear day, south and west facing luxury apartments have
a view of the London Eye and Regent’s Park
The three-bedroom, fourth-floor apartment, on the market at
£1,212,000, includes a kitchen designed by Italian firm
Menso.
A semi-circle-shaped living room leads to a main balcony overlooking
Adelaide Road, and Visage residents have their own underground
parking space at no extra charge.
The social housing tenants are not so fortunate. For the 42
homes, 16 spaces have been allocated.
Labour councillor Phil Turner believes the development vindicates
the Town Hall’s public-private partnership policy.
He said: “This is the end of a long journey for the whole
site. It is all about social cohesion – with all incomes
living together. It’s got to be one of the most desirable
lets in London.” |
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