On 17 August, Future of London organised a field trip to LB Barking & Dagenham to explore three borough-led Build to Rent schemes. Dubravka Polic, Senior Regeneration Professional at LB Barking & Dagenham gave a presentation and led the visit.

1. London Borough
of Barking and Dagenham:
Working with Build to Rent
Future of London
Barking Town Centre visit
17th August 2016
Dubravka Polić – Senior
Regeneration Professional
Major Housing Projects

2. Barking’s time has come
•Accessibility
•Location
•Value
•Award winning public realm
•Major investment in new
facilities
•Station improvements
•Political focus on growth
•London Housing Zone

3. Town Centre Strategic Objectives
PLACES OF WORK
Increase the town
centre's profile as a
place to do
business, enable the
creation of attractive
workspaces (incl
shops and market
stalls) and create
more jobs
By focusing on
creating a stronger
business, leisure
and retail offer in the
town centre's core
area
HOUSING DELIVERY
Provide a wider choice
of quality good value
homes
By providing, through a
London Housing Zone,
a range of affordable
and convenient sites for
development and
making Barking a
desirable place to live
which further supports
town centre prosperity
BARKING
CREATIVE
INDUSTRIES
ZONE
Promote the
creative industries
and participation in
arts and culture
By offering a range
of affordable
spaces and
empowering
people to boost
their creative skills
ACCESSIBILITY
Improve the transport
infrastructure and
provide convenient
access to the town
centre
By investing in making
travel, movement and
the street scene in
and around the town
centre more attractive,
safe, convenient and
enjoyable
PLACE MAKING
Continue to improve
the quality of
buildings, spaces,
valuing heritage,
engaging people and
the diverse
communities in
Barking's future
By making places
more attractive for a
wide range of people
and creating new
reasons to visit

4. Barking Town Centre Schemes

5. Estate Renewal - Gascoigne East
The largest single estate renewal
scheme in the Borough developed in
partnership with East Thames:
•1,575 new homes
• new secondary school 1850 pupils
• new primary school (c. 690 pupils)
•a community centre; energy centre
and local retail and commercial uses.
• 10 year programme to be completed
by 2021

6. Gascoigne East - Phase 1
491 new homes to be
completed by end 2018
Phase 1 tenure split:
45% shared ownership
43% affordable rent
12% private for sale

7. Barking and Dagenham Reside
•Established to rent homes in General Fund
•Currently 621 units in Borough (345 in Town
Centre)
•First 2 schemes – Abbey Rd Phase 1 and
William Street Quarter
•65- 80% of market rent.
•180 units under construction. More planned.

8. Abbey Road Phase 2
•Third BD Reside scheme
now complete
•144 affordable rent homes
(80% market rent – 2 bed flats
from £960 PCM)
•EIB funded
•Opening up public access to
riverside

9. Artist Live-work units
•BD Reside units
for artists with
workspace.
•Key part of
Barking Creative
Industries Zone
•GLA funding plus
EIB loan
•Pilot for off site
manufacturing
model
Very initial design – glazing to Linton Road to be included.

10. Abbeville Apartments
Useful data re: occupiers:
•Average age: 31 (min 19 Max 66)
•Average income £35K
•Occupations: 17% in IT, 14% in Finance, 11%
teaching, 8% health care, 7% admin, 3%
Construction
•First private Built to Rent in
Borough. Grainger scheme.
•Council facilitated through
CPO and development
agreement
•Fast occupation

11. Trocoll House
•198 Build to Rent
apartments
•£65m scheme
•28 storeys
•Commercial space
•1 and 2 beds
•Next to Barking
Station
•Planning approved
•CoPlan Estates

12. Barking Wharf
•Planning approved
by LBBD in April
•Be:Here scheme
•597 Build to Rent
flats
•6 to 15 storeys
•Flexible
commercial space
and dedicated child
play space
•Riverside
walk/public space

13. Former Abbey Sports Centre Site
LBBD signed
development
agreement with
Lindhill:
•Ground floor 3
screen cinema
and Commercial
units
•First floor Care
City
•c.150 Build to
rent units
•Planning
application about
to be submitted

14. Build to Rent in LBBD – Benefits
•Aligns with the Council’s strategy for supporting a
broader mix of tenures/housing options
•Giving residents better quality accommodation than most
buy to let landlords
•Some providers actively seek to support generating a
sense of community amongst tenants
•Attracting occupiers with more disposable income to
support local economy
•Bring forward development more quickly
•Encouraging higher quality design/materials as
developers’ want to ensure long term rental income

15. Built To Rent In LBBD - Issues
•Is there a limit to Build to Rent in the Town centre?
Currently over 1500 built, approved or in for planning..
•Negative impact on tenure diversity full
•Concerns over quality of management/Members
concerned when no operator identified.
•How is affordable/discounted rent provided?
•Understanding differentiation of product.
•Perception - not everyone yet appreciates the
difference between Build to Rent to buy to let landlords
•How long term is investment – flipping to market sale
early? The Council’s has been putting a 15 year
condition.

16. www.lbbd.gov.uk/londonsgrowthopportunity
www.boldmagazine.co.uk