Innovative housing developer Pocket Living has submitted a planning application to the Old Oak Common and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) for a Build to Rent scheme.

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The site is at Atlas Wharf, on Atlas Road, NW10, adjacent to the Grand Union Canal. Whilst within the London Borough of Ealing, the site falls under the jurisdiction of the OPDC and is identified in the emerging plan as part of a new town centre.

Pocket Living has been working with Grid Architects to work up plans. The proposed development will provide 436 Build to Rent homes, consisting of studios, one-bed, two-bed and three-bed homes, with 35% provided as affordable housing.

The scheme includes three buildings, all connected at ground floor level via a podium, containing a shared entrance, resident amenity spaces, cycle storage and commercial and retail uses that will be open to the public. A high-quality private landscaped garden is located on the podium, in addition to separate roof terraces and a ground floor residents’ terrace overlooking the canal. A key element to the proposal is also providing a new step-free pedestrian and cycle connection from Atlas Road to the canal towpath.

Pocket Living’s aim is to provide a rental option that is accessible to young middle-earning professionals in London. Pocket is shifting its focus into larger brownfield sites following the UK Government’s re-emphasis in recent months on a brownfield-first approach to solving the housing crisis and commitment to see significant new homes being delivered alongside HS2 transport infrastructure.

Marc Vlessing, Pocket Living’s chief executive, comments: “We believe that with unrivalled connectivity across London and the UK, Old Oak and Park Royal can become a thriving, inclusive and healthy new urban district, with huge benefits for current and new residents and businesses alike.

“And why Build to Rent? With the maturing of institutional investment around BTR on one hand and most of the BTR focus at the higher end of the market, there was scope for us to deliver a BTR format that would sit comfortably with Pocket’s for-sale brand.

“All of our stakeholders are pointing in the same direction, and one of our key stakeholders is our consumer. For our customer, we know that a keenly priced rental product would get an awful lot of people into a home that they could consider their own for the long term.”

Laurence Osborn, Director at Grid Architects, comments: “GRID architects were delighted when Pocket Living selected us to design their first BTR development. We have incorporated our wealth of knowledge of the BTR sector to create what we believe will be a great place for Londoners to live (with the ability to work from home) where they can enjoy internal and external amenity spaces on a Canalside location.

“Once a brick and tile works, the history of the site has been woven into the architecture of the buildings, so that Atlas Wharf is not a generic place to live but one influenced by its place.”

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