Greenwich Millennium Village blocks on the rise

Construction work is now in full swing at another two plots within Greenwich Millennium Village.

Twenty five years after work begun and plots 401 and 403 are finally underway bringing 203 homes.

The extremely slow build rate over that quarter of a century offer a glimpse into why we have such a severe housing crises. It was in 1997 that government agency English Partnerships first purchased 300 acres of land.

By the time GMV is complete it’s likely to have taken around 30-35 years to build 3,000 homes. Compare that to post-war build rates when the UK was in severe austerity measures yet to build out sites such as 3,000 homes in Abbey Wood in four years. That included three new primary schools, one secondary school, shopping parades, doctors and dentist surgeries and infrastructure such as new bridges.

By the 1990s – and ever since – the philosophy was to let the private sector take the lead. And in return building was at an extremely limited level.

This painfully slow build rate is being overseen by Countryside Partnerships (part of Vistry Group) and Taylor Wimpey London.

Detailed plans

This week saw reserved matters submitted showing building materials and facades.

Once these blocks are complete work will slowly move east to other empty plots.

Designs are very much in keeping with previous plots.

Slow going

This whole development is a warning to the new government’s plans for increased housebuilding. Hoping private developers build quickly when there’s little incentive to do so – and as a result see some social homes but with no targets – won’t work alone.

In this case the public sector bought the land and then took a step back while over the next 27 years we’ve seen glacial action from private developers. That’s despite only 20 per cent being “affordable” in the approved masterplan.

The vast majority of plots sailed through planning so that’s hardly much of a factor in delays. Repeating this model is not going to work in solving the housing crises.

Running a site alone takes time and a fair bit of money. Adverts are far from enough to cover it and my living costs as a private renter.