Quintain's Build to Let estate rebadged as 'Quintain Living'

The initial 'revolutionary' marketing strategy.

Quintain, the major developer of Wembley Park, has announced that from October 5th its Build to Rent properties will be marketed as Quintain Living, rather than  Tipi.

Its image thus moves more towards selling a life style rather than independence from dodgy private landlords.

The life style approach can be seen here:

At the same time Quintain announced the appointment of a new chief operating officer for their estate. She is Danielle Bayless who is the vice president of operations for California based Essex Property Trust which has 23,000 properties.

In a further and perhaps relevant development reliable sources have told Wembley Matters that the new properties at Brent House in Wembley High Road appear to be unoccupied.  Just up the road are the many properties in the 'Twin Towers' which the developer is attempting to market under the friendly sounding 'Uncle' name.

Loss of 'Copland Fields' mourned as Wembley Central population without access to gardens increases by thousands

Wembley Open Space (Copland Fields) as was

PROW 87 as was (broken line) and replacement (solid line)

Five years ago there were protests about what was called a 'land grab' of a Wembley open space popularly known as Copland Fields.  When Ark Elvin took over Copland High School the government found money for a brand new school for the academy chain. Copland had been campaigning for years for a new building because the school was in such bad condition.  There had been plans for a 'Copland Village' development at the time to pay for a new build but the plans never came to fruition.

Muhammed Butt,  leader of Brent Council, then a governor at Ark Elvin who have been in favour of the academisation of Copland, strongly backed Ark's  plans but found himself in conflict with local residents, who valued the access to green space in a heavily built up area.

The plans were approved and Ark Elvin got its new building and extended its footprint, while Elsley Primary doubled its size with an additional new building, and both they and St Joseph's enclosed part of the space that they'd had access to by covenant.  Residents were left with a redirected Public Right Of Way (PROW) which is a path lined on both sides by a high fence and warning signs that this previous publicly used space was now 'Private Land.'

Local residents had used routes across this space to access the schools and Alperton via the bridge across the railway. A map of these routes was submitted at the time.

Those routes are now closed except for the main footpath. At the time local  resident Chetan Patel told Annabel Bates, the headteacher of Ark Elvin:

With respect to ARK's planning application (ref 15/3161) for the school redevelopment, I believe your proposal breaches the community's 'Public Right Of Way' onto the existing fields in accordance to Highways Act 1980 Section 130A.

The community has had access to the existing park without any objections from ARK or from the previous management of Copland Community School for many decades now. The law assumes that if the public uses a path without interference for some period of time – set by statute at 20 years - then the owner (ARK) had intended to dedicate it as a right of way.

ARK's proposed development of the school can only be described as 'land-grab' with no consideration for the community users and the Law.

You may well ask, why is this coming up again 5 years later/ The answer is that since then we have had major housing developments in Wembley Central: Elizabeth House, Brent House and the Twin Towers with more to come alongside the Chiltern line and at Ujima House and on the former Copland site fronting the High Road.  Planners admit most are deficient in amenity space but point to the accessibility of  King Edward VII Park in Park Lane.

During lockdown residents have told Wembley Matters that King Eddies is now overcrowded because of the many new residents who have no gardens in which to exercise and enjoy fresh air. Longer term residents are now referring back to that loss of Copland Fields and reflecting on the access they used to have:

One resident told Wembley Matters:

Since moving to Wembley in the mid 1980s, Coplands Fields as it was known, was open to the public,  myself and friends always exercised our dogs freely on this open space,  flew Kites, off road remote control cars, played ball games, Rounders etc.  It was a well used space by Asian cricketers (on designated hard surface - which I think no longer exists)  Numerous local Football groups (Somali and Romanian) played regularly at weekends and during the week early evenings.  Wembley Youth Club had unlimited access.  A Volleyball Group set up their own nets in the far corner near Elsley Primary.   

One of the best things about this open space  was it allowed you to fly kites, remote control planes and helicopters as it has no trees in the middle, unlike King Eddies which does have obstructions such as trees.   The public footpath and fields provided a quick short cut from Alperton to High Road, It was consistently used by parents from Wembley Central and Alperton area walking their children to schools St Josephs RC School, Elsley and Oakington Manor.  All the people living in Tokynton Ward are completely cut off from using this space.

No CCTV evident on footpath which is like a dog's hind leg and nowhere to run if attacked.

St Josephs regularly (or did prior to Covid) use the space, Ark Elvin does not as it has its MUGA's designed in with artificial grass, and does not have access via a gate or anything unlike St Josephs and Elsley.

The Wetlands you refer to is within the boundaries of the Ark Elvin Academy.  I seem to remember discussing this with a Biology Teacher who at the time said it was going to be utilised by the students to grow stuff and create a bio-diverse environment for nature and study. 

I might add it makes a mockery of Brents Green Park and Open Space document, which clearly states that Wembley Central is massively deficient in green space, considering in the last few years more than 1800 new flats have been built with yet more to come.  In 2011 census the pop of Wembley Central was approximately 15,000 I think we are now in excess of 25,000 and when all these flats are let we will be double in less than 10 years.  The Brent House development in the report clearly states its deficient by 20% in its amenity space with respect to the number of residents it will hold.

It is hard to convey the nature of this enclosure of land in words so I have made this short video of the path of the redirected public right of way:



Four years ago Brent Council wrote to a resident to say what needed to be done to claim a right to access to the other footpaths across the Copland Fields as shown on the map above LINK.

The evidence sheet that needs to be submitted is HERE and Guidance from the Ramblers Association HERE.

It is late in the day but if nearby residents think it is worth the effort then good luck to them.

Wembley High Road sewer works to be completed by end of the week. Discussions taking place with those responsible for the concrete blockage.

Residents and businesses around Wembley High Road as well as drivers and public transport users will be relieved to hear that relief is at hand! A spokesperson for Thames Water told me today:

 Our work on Wembley High Road is due to be finished by the end of this week. We’ve traced the source of the concrete and are discussing the matter with the third party who were responsible.

Thames were not prepared to name the third party.

Confusion over end date for Wembley High Road sewer works

 Street signs say that the sewer works in Wembley High Road will continue until January 31st 2018 but this is what Brent Council posted on its website yesterday with a completion date of January 5th LINK:

The sewer works on High Road, Wembley, are progressing well and the proposed end date for these works is now 5 January 2018.

To date Thames Water have:

• Removed the traffic island
• Excavated a shaft onto the sewer over seven meters deep
• Tunnelled four meters downstream, towards Park Lane, to a point where there is no concrete in the sewer
• Tunnelled upstream, towards Wembley triangle, eight and a half meters to the lateral connection from the former Brent House site and have tunnelled over fourteen meters to a point where all concrete has been removed.
• Sink another shaft on the sewer
• Replaced the sewer

Next steps:

• Backfill the tunnels

• Backfill the shaft

• Permanent reinstatement of carriageway.

  
   Note: From the top of the 83 bus today (Thursday) it did look as if the backfill works have been completed. I have asked Thames Water for clarification.
  

Double Whammy Wembley Works

With road works now taking place outside Wembley Central station as well as on Wembley High Road outside the Brent House building site, residents are getting increasingly frustrated as tailbacks develop. Things were not looking great for this evening with wet roads, two sets of works and Spurs playing Brighton!

Brent Council has responded to a resident by setting out the latest position regarding the works:

The works near Wembley Central Station are been undertaken by UK Power Networks (UKPN), these works are urgent because there has been an intermittent power failure which has affected up to seventy five shops along the High Road.

Originally, the footway opposite Wembley Central Station was closed and two new temporary pedestrian crossings were placed either side of the excavation so that pedestrians could safely navigate their way around the closed footway. Unfortunately, pedestrians were not using this facility, instead, pedestrians were walking in live traffic lanes which is clearly unacceptable. The only safe option was provide a safe pedestrian walkway in the carriageway and control traffic with two way temporary signals, the carriageway at this location was not considered wide enough to accommodate two way traffic and a pedestrian walkway.

I have been to site this morning and we have instructed UKPN to back fill and open the footway and open the carriageway to normal two way traffic, this should be in place for the evening rush hour.

There is still a fault on the cable and UKPN will need to undertake more works at this location, where possible these works will be planned to occur in non-traffic sensitive times only.

I can assure you that all planned works have been postponed until after the sewer works are complete but emergency works cannot be postponed.

Sewer works likely to continue into the new year

Brent Council, answering a query from a local resident, have confirmed the revised end date for the Wembley High Road sewer works as December 22nd but added that it was likely that the works would continue into the new year.

Thames Water are currently excavating another shaft over the sewer and the lateral connection to the former Brent House which should be completed by Thursday of this week. Thames Water will then need to continue to tunnel towards Wembley Triangle to a point where there is no more concrete in the sewer.

When all concrete has been been removed the backfill and reinstatement process is expected to take up to three weeks to complete.

The Council added that they are working with Thames Water to ensure these works are completed as soon as possible. They assured the resident that Thames Water is working seven days a week but as the majority of the works are underground it may look as if there is not much activity on the surface. Thames Water have been instructed to update their Variable Message Signage to reflect the new revised date.

Responding to a question about the reinstatement of the traffic island and trees formerly on the site Brent said that the island, removed for these works, will not be replaced as there have been long term plans to remove it. It has been decided to take the opportunity to remove the island at no cost to the council. The trees that had to be removed can be replaced at the expense of Thames Water who will in turn recharge whoever is repsonsible for the concrete in the sewer.

Parking restrictions on Park Lane imposed because of the works and the traffic diversion have now been extendeduntil the sewer works are completed.

HGV and dust nightmare on Wembley High Road

In a comment on the Heron House development local resident Jaine Lunn also commented on the impact of redevelopment works on High Road Wembley on residents and provided photographic evidence:

The work at Brent House development is causing a massive amount of chaos. The traffic management plan is bloody useless. We have HGV's parked on both sides of the High Road, and in the bus lane, on the pavements, last week I had 3 parked in my street, on the pavement engines running idling for over 30 minutes at a time. The footprint of the site is so small, they have a huge crane, piling thing, and a minimum of 20 lorries a day picking up rubbish and delivering plant and cement. When Chesterfield House gets going God knows how the High Road is going to cope. As I stated before 8 sites within 500 metres of my house. The dust and pollution is so bad I cannot open the windows.

 

Brent House sold to Genesis Housing for £76 million

Brent House last week

Proposed development

Locals have noticed some work going on at Brent House, High Road, Wembley, recently. The office blocks were sold to Henley Homes by Brent Council for around £10 million in 2014 LINK

Yesterday Henley Homes announced that they had completed sale of the site, to include construction of 248 apartments and c6,000 square feet of retail space, to Genesis Housing. 30% of the apartments will be 'affordable' (up to 80% of market rents?)

Construction will be by Reis Construct, the construction arm of Henley Homes.

The blocks will be 7-10 storeys high, considerably lower than other recent planning applications in the area.  There will be further development of the High Road to the north on the Ark Elvin High School  frontage as well as the rebuild of the secondary school itself and the extension of Elsley Primary School currently under way.

The new blocks with Ark Elvin (formerly Copland) High Schoolon the right

Some of the property press have mistakely reported the sale as that of Brent Town Hall, which is of course now the Lycee International de Londres Winston Churchill.

The full extent of the new build (High Road at top of the picture) can be seen in this architect's drawing:

More details on the architect's website HERE

Demolition and build will start in the new year.

Jeremy Stibbe, Genesis Housing Association Executive Director of Assets and Investment said:

  We’re delighted that works for this exciting project will soon be getting underway and look forward to working closely with Henley Homes as the plans take shape. 

The new properties built at Brent House will play a key role in helping Genesis deliver on our ambitions to invest in 1,000 homes a year.  Genesis is the largest housing association landlord in Brent so we will be channelling this experience into creating a vibrant new mixed tenure community delivering affordability and opportunity for customers at the heart of the borough.

Brent House development in Wembley High Road given the go ahead

Existing Brent House

The proposal

Brent Planning Committee has approved proposals for the redevelopment of Brent House in the High Road, Wembley.

The proposed development would be between the new Elizabeth House and Ark Elvin Academy, which is due to be re-developed LINK, and will stretch back towards the playing fields and St Joseph's Primary school.

It will consist of tw building sof between 8 and 10 storeys with retail/commercial space on the groubnd floot. The 248 dwellings will consist of 84 one bedroomed flats (although that might be reconsidered), 108 2 bedroom, 49 3 bedroom and 7 4 bedroom.

30% will be affordable rather than the 50% figure in Brent's strategic Plan. Henley Homes argued that above 30% would not be viable in terms of the return to the builders and Capita confirmed this figures.

It is projected that there will be 104 children in the development and play space is planned for, although the total amount of utdoor space is less than would be expected for this scale of development. Planners were told that this was constrained by the nature of the site and its quality compensated for the lower figure.

TfL will need to review bus transport in the area due to the additional population.

The mature trees, a feature of the site, (see top picture) will be lost in the redevelopment.

Wembley Central councillors submitted no comments on the proposal.

The plan - High Road at the top

'Green Space' fronting new Ark Elvin school ear-marked for development

The slide of the artists' impression of the new Ark Elvin school building had pride of place at the Planning Committee tonight and the green space looked impressive - especially the bit fronting the High Road, although maybe it was a different shade of green so that might be a clue.

The space next to existing Brent House on Wembley High Road

It soon unravelled under questioning. It was going to be a temporary space pending redevelopment, although at first officers were vague about how long it would last. Then it emerged (as reported on Wembley Matters) that it would be a mixed development (in Brent this means shops and flats).

When Cllr Maurice suggested that a condition be put on the Planning Application that it should remain a green space, Steve Weeks, Head of Planning, came clean and said that couldn't be done because it would be contrary to the existing Wembley Area Plan, which of course sees retails stretching from Wembley Central station all the way down the High Road to the LDO.

However, the Planning Committee were told that they had to consider the Ark Elvin planning application separately from any plans for the High Road frontage.  Clearly any applications for the development of the space will be considered in the light of the Area Plan. Basically the new school will be hidden away, probably behind blocks of flats with retail on the ground floor.

It was also confirmed that Jesmond Road residents can't be spared construction traffic by  alternative access to the school site via Brent House, because the Council are on the verge of reaching a deal with developers on that site.

Temporary accommodation for the homeless at Brent House?

Brent House in Wembley may house homeless families if the Cabinet agree the proposal on Monday.

Brent House has been vacated by the Council and Air France. It will be 12 months before Henley Homes are likely to get planning permission so the Council is proposed to outsource to a provider in the interim.

The Officer's report states:

The existing office space is to be converted into non self-contained accommodation with shared facilities across eight o f the nine floors (or as many floors as possible). The scheme is expected to accommodate between 40-60 units of non-self contained accommodation (approximately 120 persons at any one time). The scheme will require planning permission for a temporary change of use. 

The accommodation will be provided to homeless (and potentially homeless) households under Part VII of the Housing Act 1996.  At the end of the scheme the provider(s) will be required to hand-back the building to the Council with vacant possession and free of fittings and temporary installations put in for the scheme. Households in occupation will be provided with alternative suitable temporary accommodation in advance of vacant possession being required

Council sells Brent House for £10 million

Brent House

Brent Council has sold Brent House, Wembley High Road, for more than the £10m asking price.

It has been sold to Henley Homes who have plans for up to 265 homes on the site subject to Brent Council giving planning approval.

Brent House is close to the old Copland High School, now Ark Elvin, which  is also the subject of an extensive planning application.

The sale follows plans for the conversion of  the  high rise Wembley Point at Harrow Road/North Circular into homes.

How much has Brent House lost council taxpayers?

Brent Council purchased the leasehold of Brent House in Wembley in 2008 for £17.1m. Shortly after due to the financial collapse and the resulting property crash it was revalued in 2010 on an 'owner occupier use value' at £8.375m. The current depreciated  Net Book Value on the Council's Asset Register is £4.519m.

Brent House is now surplus to requirements following the move of council staff to the Civic Centre but Air France still occupies part of the building and it has Vodafone and Airwaves masts on the roof. The combined income stream for the council ois£363k. This is likely to be lost on sale of the leasehold as Air France will have to vacate the building.

Brent Council borrowed £17.695m for the leasehold purchase with an annual debt charge of £1.031m. This combines principal and interest and was forecast for repayment over 40 years. (I'll leave you to work out the total cost!) The outstanding principal of the original borrowing  is £16.886m - more than 3 times the Net Book Value.

The council now proposes to dispose of the leasehold but has not released the purchase figure. They do state however that the capital receipt offer is in excess of the 'property's Net Book Value on the Council's Asset Register but lower that the outstanding principal on the unsupported borrowing'.

We are left to work out that the bidder's unrevealed purchase  figure is between £4.519m and £16.886m. A wide range by any stretch of the imagination and surely residents ought to be told the extent of any loss on the sale? Details are restricted and the relevant Appendix to the report no published.

The Brent Executive will decide on Monday their preferred bidder  for the leasehold sale. Officers are recommending one from Stoford Ltd.

Stoford intend to convert and extend the premises to provide a 158 bed hotel, (Premier Inn) 66 homes of which 'around 22' would be affordable and 465m2 of retail with 165 parking spaces.

If that does not progress the reserve bidder recommended is Henley Homes which officers, whilst impressed by Henley's track record,  questioned deliverability'.

This is a new build bid with 269 homes of which 80 would be affordable and with a bigger retail space of 1,580m2 but no hotel.

Anong the rejected bids were:

• One Housing Group, rejected as too low financially.
• Bellway Homes - scheme for 327-346 homesm rejected as over-development
• Criterion Capital - unconditional bid for conversion of exisiting building to 135-140 homes, Theye did not submit a second bid.
• Quatar Property Group - conversion of existing building to an unspecified number of homes, rejected due to relatively low value.

Although the Council claim that a hotel meets with the Wembley Plan I would question whether the borough needs yet another hotel and most of the new Wembley hotels are closer to the Stadium, Arena and Wembley Park station.

It does seem to me that the Council has missed yet another opportunity to build affordable homes. A hotel is also planned at Bridge Park on the other side of the North Circular with a minimum affordable home quota of only 5%.

The retail fits in with the Council's plan to have a retail corridor all the way from Wembley Central station down to the Stadium, incorporatng the London Designer Outlet.  The redeveloped Elizabeth House, next to Brent House, already includes retail space which as far as I know has not yet been let. The jury is still out on the viability of the LDO.