Peabody advertise Thamesmead development by Belmarsh as being in Greenwich
I was alerted this morning to Peabody advertising a new 66-flat block in Thamesmead near the Princess Alice pub and Belmarsh prison.
Call me old fashioned but one would expect a Housing Association to be slightly more ethical than a private developer when it comes to advertising – so when they market it as being “Located on Thames Road in Greenwich” alongside a picture of Greenwich Park it seems a bit off.
Yes, you can say this is technically Greenwich borough but this is very misleading to people unfamiliar with the area. Thamesmead and Greenwich are a world apart – to reach one from the other can take an hour if public transport or traffic is bad. The location page shows numerous pictures of Greenwich town centre.
They also advertise new DLR stations. Well nothing’s confirmed and it could be a decade away – if that.
The nearest rail link is actually Plumstead station though the walk there is far from ideal (sound familiar?) – though some welcome recent improvements have been made.
Money for major improvements to the area by Plumstead station and approaches from Thamesmead has been made available but is running late (again, sound familiar?). It will be between £2m-£3m.
And how much does a flat near Belmarsh, sorry Greenwich, cost? Well, there’s no actual numbers on the page but you’ll need an income up to £90,000. A single person or couple on £20-£30k? It’s unlikely you’ll be able to.
This is totally misleading and very unethical for a Housing Association. It would more realistic to show Thamesmead and Plumstead rather than Greenwich Park.
At least potential buyers can make an informed decision before deciding whether to come and view the properties.
The current advisiting would suggest to me that the new development is actually in Greenwich SE10 and not miles away in Thamesmead SE28.
‘one would expect a Housing Association to be slightly more ethical than a private developer when it comes to advertising’ – come on Murky, you must by now know that HA’s are exactly the same as developers nowadays.
Well the development is in Borough of Greenwich so not really misleading, location shows it as being in Thamesmead, lots of the gallery photos are of Thamesmead, so maybe they’ve taken note and update their site?
In terms of the financial dynamics of Housing Associations, since money doesn’t fall off trees and they have to borrow it. They can only realistically provide housing products which fall under the affordable category but enable them to pay back loans etc. Unfortunately, more and more that means little or no social rent products. But they can’t be blamed for that and just today HA’s have been warned that Brexit etc will be damaging to them due to the uncertainty it has created and increase in labour costs of construction etc.
Will have a look soon. When I wrote this clicking on location showed nothing but Greenwich town centre.
It’s all marketing bluff. You would need powerful binoculars to see Greenwich Park from Thamesmead.
i saw a development a stone’s throw from Lee Green advertised as Blackheath.