EG LONDON RESIDENTIAL A


PROMINENT BLACKFRIARS DEVELOPMENTS IN PLANNING OR CONSTRUCTION


des res by the river with some of the world’s most iconic buildings in view? It should sell itself. But while the South Bank should be prime territory for residential development it is only now entering the coveted Prime Central London


(PCL) club of premium-priced locations. The South Bank has no formal boundary and it runs from Battersea Park to The Globe. Yet until recent years even the best of this area’s riverside residential consisted of low-rise apartments and conversions, mostly close to Shad Thames and distinctly unprime in terms of design, specification and price per square foot. But that is now changing as numerous under-construction projects and a large pipeline propel the area into high fashion and high demand. More than 800 units are in the pipeline


in just the most prominent schemes in the Southbank/Blackfriars area alone, according to EG’s London Residential Research Market Analysis, which is due to be published next week. They form part of a cluster of 20,000 high-end units planned in a necklace of towers to the south of the river Thames. Smaller schemes already in place are helping to transform the area. “Neo Bankside, One Tower Bridge and One Blackfriars are redefining the South Bank offer,” explains Samuel Blake of BNP Paribas Real Estate. These developments, he says, boast


specifications and amenities that explicitly target international buyers; as a result, their prices are high by South Bank standards (some touching £2,500 per sq ft – about double the local average) and are firmly in the prime category. They will have competition though.


Just down the river, in Vauxhall Nine Elms, 16,000 homes are set to be built. The numbers are mind-boggling. According to Nigel Evans, head of


London Residential Research, the number of units set to be built south of the Thames “is double the amount under construction in 2012”, and he warns that “a bubble could be forming”. Sales rates are already slow at some of South Bank’s most prominent schemes.


LUDGATE HOUSE/SAMPSON HOUSE DEVELOPER: CARLYLE GROUP PRIVATE UNITS: 246


ONE BLACKFRIARS DEVELOPER: ST GEORGE PRIVATE UNITS: 274


Source: Estates Gazette London Residential Research


Going upmarket


A raft of super prime residential units is set for the South Bank, will it sell? asks Graham Norwood


Units at NEO Bankside, started well with good sales in 2010 but since then have taken twice as long as the London average to sell. At One Tower Bridge, things are better, with the scheme taking 58 weeks to sell, beating the average of 77 weeks but still behind the figures quoted at Vauxhall


Nine Elms Battersea (see graphic). “Investor buyers are less location- sensitive in that they might look at Nine Elms or the South Bank or the City,” explains Charles Leigh of CBRE Residential. In addition, he says, “the Thames is so enthralling that some


Changing the game FOR CITY INVESTORS talk to our City game changers at: realestateforachangingworld.co.uk


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