The huge, £9bn Rafael Vinoly Architects-designed development at Battersea Power Station is now coming on in leaps and bounds.
Battersea is just a short hop across the river to the heart of central London and it’s a very fashionable district indeed, with the new developments making thousands of new homes available on the riverfront and in the landscaped surrounding gardens.
As ever, the number of affordable homes will not come close to meeting local demand. According to @guardian the original plan was to construct 636 affordable homes (15% of the total number of 4,239 homes planned) targeted at local residents, with locals promised a 40% discount on average market rent. That number has now been cut to 386.
The power station itself, with its iconic four chimneys, is a well-known and loved London landmark. (Those of a certain age will remember the huge inflatable pig flying from one of the chimneys to mark the release of Pink Floyd’s Animals in 1977.)
Construction began on the coal-fired power station in 1929 and it was decommissioned in 1983. The original architect was Giles Gilbert Scott (who also designed Bankside Power Station, now Tate Modern, and the Salvation Army Building at Denmark Hill). The power station is now a Grade II listed building.
Visitors can now take a look around the inside of the redeveloped power station, via a walkway from the Thames Path. There are plans for shops, restaurants and start up business units.
The first apartments in the new development went on sale in January 2013 but new developments are being completed all the time.
The first show home at Frank Gehry’s Prospect Place has now opened and you take a virtual tour if you’d like a look around.
Foster & Partners’ development at Battersea Roof Gardens is also now complete. The complex includes a hotel and medical centre, and it has one of the largest roof gardens in London.
A one-bedroom apartment in the west-facing Halliday House in Circus West Phase I, with its own winter garden, will set you back £595,000 and a 2-bedroom, triple-aspect apartment in Faraday House, with views over the power station, is £850,000.
Battersea is not just about modern developments, and there are some fantastic Victorian houses and conversions. You can find a one-bedroom conversion in St John’s Hill on the market for about £520,000 and a two-bedroom conversion in Strathblaine Road for £700,000.
According to @Zoopla, the average house price for a flat in SW11 is £668,972 and for a terraced house £1,291,052. Prices have increased 2.78% over the last twelve months.
Rental properties in SW11 range from £1,672 for a 1-bedroom flat to £3,686 for a 3-bedroom flat.
I Am the Agent, the UK’s first online estate agent, is offering a 1-bedroom flat to let in St John’s Hill for £1,257 per month and a 2-bedroom flat in Northcote Road at £2,470 per month.
The local authority is the London Borough of Wandsworth and council tax ranges from £462.67 (band A) to £1,388 (band H).
Image courtesy @HomesProperty