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TfL picks Pocket Living for new sites
Transport for London (TfL) has announced plans to partner developer Pocket Living to provide “100% genuinely affordable” homes for a number of sites.
The proposals will see Pocket build 125 one-bed homes on TfL sites, subject to planning consent, which will be sold on at a discount to open market prices.
The sales will prioritise people who already live in the borough where the homes are built and are first-time buyers. According to Pocket Living the average age of a typical homebuyer is 33, and 87% of those purchasing a Pocket home are singles with an average household income of £42,500. TfL did not confirm where the potential sites would be located.
Graeme Craig, director of commercial development at TfL, said: “Pocket Living is building a great reputation for high-quality, genuinely affordable housing for first-time buyers, and will help us develop sites that would not otherwise come forward.
“This partnership marks another important step in us assembling the most important development pipeline in London – building thousands of social rented and other genuinely affordable homes across the capital and generating hundreds of millions of pounds to reinvest in the transport network.”
The arrangement with Pocket follows on from a partnership TfL launched last month with modular developer Apartments for London to provide modular homes above tube stations.
The agreement would see TfL build homes above car parks and other available sites using modular methods to provide 450 affordable homes to rent.
The public-owned transport body has aimed to build 10,000 homes across its portfolio of land.
Marc Vlessing, chief executive of Pocket Living, said: “Pocket Living is delighted to be working with TfL to deliver homes Londoners desperately need. Pocket has always been at the heart of innovative collaborations in the housing sector and we believe new thinking and working in partnership is crucial if we are serious about tackling the housing crisis.
“More affordable homes are crucial for London’s city-makers, its teachers, nurses and charity workers, who are currently priced out of the open market and salaried out of social housing. The mayor and his team at the [Greater London Authority] and TfL have rightly identified affordable housing as a priority and recognised the need to speed up the supply of homes.”
