Huge Woolwich Town Centre site sold. 650 homes planned

Legal and General have purchased a large site in Woolwich Town Centre with aspirations to build 650 homes.

They’ve named the site “Macbean” and have been emailed for further comment. However, it must surely be the large expanse of vacant land where a Victorian school stood until demolition in recent years. Woolwich Poly were the last occupants.

L&G plan to construct “build-to-rent” homes on the site, as they do in Lewisham at a retail park near the station on Loampit Vale.

Build to Rent is rapidly growing as a sector but to truly become mass-market costs will have to come down. What has been built so far is marketed at higher costs than even London’s very high average private rental costs. There’s only so many people who can afford that.

Alongside Legal and General are Dutch Pension Fund PGGM.

This is likely to become a contentious issue in coming years. Unless Build to Rent becomes more affordable, the issue of younger people paying high rents to subsidise Pension Funds will spark yet more questions of generational divides.

The scheme joins many others in Woolwich either approved or planned including:

• Callis Yard (covered last week)
• Spray Street (742 homes – covered here)
• Wellington Street (Wellington Quarter – covered last week)
• Royal Sovereign House (covered here – detailed plans now being submitted)
• The Island Site (310 homes)
• Former Catholic Club (covered here)
• Mortgramit Square (Covered last month)
• Trinity Walk (covered in May and part of 1,600 “One Woolwich ” scheme
• Royal Arsenal – numerous sites. (3000+ homes)
• Armourers Court on top of eastern end of Crossrail station (394 flats)
• New Waterfront Leisure Centre and homes at Wilko site
• Potential tower in front and to rear of Tesco (800 homes)
• DLR station site (you never know, it may stop being landbanked after 10 years)

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