Jenga House, 356 High Road, Wembley
2015 Report 25 units for residential use
Back in 2015 developers were given prior approval under permitted development for conversion of the the former Brent House Annex in High Road, Wembley from office space to residential use. I emphasise residential because it has been used for short-term lets for a minimum of £170 a night for one bedroom and £200 a night for two bedrooms. The agent was Urban Stays but now a new agent appears to have taken over.
A local informant tells Wembley Matters:
Recently I have discovered from my neighbours in Jenga Court that all of their rental agreements are not being renewed, and discovered that although all these properties were on sale on Zoopla for ridiculous prices, the property has been bought by Flying Butler LINKIs this just another way of having permanent AirBNB, as before some of these were Valet Apartments?, and does this conversion have any impact on the planning that was granted?They are currently all being refurbished, decorated etc so not actually available as yet.
Sure enough Flying Butler is now advertising in advance of completion of the refurbishment but apartment rates have not yet been publshed:
Like the Krisha Court development in Queens Walk, Kingsbury that received planning permission for residential flats but now used a Airb&B short term lets (query to Brent Council regarding non-compliance with planning permission still not answered) these are short-lets as reflected in the last sentence of the blurb : '..you'll have plenty to keep you entertained during your visit.'
What is really annoying is that both developments deprive local people of possible long-term housing and as with other planning approvals there seems no follow up from planning officers to ensure that tenure is as granted and that any planning obligations are fulfilled.
7 comments:
Wembley is slowly becoming an area with a very substantial, nay predominantly transient population and very little community. This has become the case as most of the properties in Towerblock Tatler's dystopian mega city and not homes as she would have us believe.
Think about it, there are several thousand student flats, large numbers of short term lets, Airbnb, holiday rentals, serviced apartments, occasional use flats. Then there are the investment properties that never get used. Alongside the vast number of student flats there is the substantial Quintain rental portfolio, did you know there are blocks let out in their entirety. Very few properties that have been built in Wembley could ever be called homes. It's a bit like Disney Land but without the pleasure park.
Towerblock Tatler and Brent Council need to stop misrepresenting what is happening to Wembley under the banner of regeneration, as if it is benefiting people in Brent, when it is not. It is a money making enterprise, nothing more and probably backed by donors to the current Labour Party.
Wembley is becoming more and more the mirror of the dysfunctional and lonely place portrayed in Bladerunner, just walk down Lakeside Way (you've got to laugh at the road name) between the Arena and the Hilton and you will agree. There are several other examples to be found.
Poor, poor sad Wembley, once such a prestigious place, but no more, it is full of pound shops, pawn brokers etc. and no one knows anyone else in the area.
The London global airspace tenancies super sale zone extends beyond Wembley, its a 6 boroughs car-free towers new Mega City stretching from Brent Cross to Brentford, and Westfield to Wembley building in sly fragments bit-by-bit, PA-by PA, but this Tower Hundreds Mega City will arrive as one giant no plan by 2050.
What is human life quality to be inside this new tower city of tenants paying tax, council tax and extra environmental service charges then on top of that?
A London 'right' place or a London 'wrong' place? No TfL/ ATE understanding or funding of car-free needs in this Mega City as yet. Trains strike.
To prove an ongoing Brent lack of any planning expertise regarding car-free housing zoned at new 30,000 intensive town scale......
Car-free towers South Kilburn remains planned to double its inside zone vehicle road metres by 2041. Would not this planned for vehicles space land take in totally the wrong place, not be better land used for protected parks, greenways and cycle routes space needs instead, given the policy fact that this Brent zones population is being car-free housed stations nearby?
It has been very sad to see some of these residents struggling to find new accommodation. I have been led to believe the top two floors which were added on the flats were built to national guidelines and will remain rented, but the lower and ground floors will be serviced apartments. I am assuming they will be like before short-term Company Lets for people working locally and the rest for visitors to Wembley Stadium or Holiday lets.
So those on the local housing waiting list miss out on homes so that tourists get a nice place to stay for a few days.
And soon we'll have tons more student accomodation.
None of these people will pay council tax here and will not be invested in our local community 😞
They probably only wan't short let's as they'll be working with developers on the next 26 storey tower block that they can build on the site!
Anonymous at 13.33 has nailed it.
Tower hundreds site-by-site no social plan contained inside brownfield neglect special zonings- the lucrative new global economy zoned.
Post pandemics, simply rapid re-fill zones as if nothing happened.
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