The London Borough of Westminster has the largest planning department in the country, processing 10,000 planning applications yearly, our London Property Club has heard.

Massive developments are going up in the region and Deirdra Armsby, Director of Place Shaping and Town Planning at the Council, described this as “a really major regeneration” and described Westminster as an “economic powerhouse.”

There has also been an increased focus on improving access to housing in the borough, Armbsy explained: “Our policies have shifted to a much higher and genuine commitment to affordable housing.” [emaillocker id=”71749″]

474 of the 1565 homes built in Westminster in 2018/2019 were affordable homes, approximately 30%.

Armsby mentioned a number of schemes that are still in development. The first was Church Street site A, a total of 388-units which is in RiBA Stage 2, with the outline business case still under works. She also mentioned the Ebury Bridge Estate, a total of 752 units, in the hybrid planning application stage.

The Great Portland Estate has been working on a number of projects in the borough, Andrew White, their Estate Development Director said: “We’ve got a very deep and rich pipeline of opportunities going forward,” which includes six developments in design for Westminster, a total 451,000 sq ft of space.

This includes two projects with an earliest start date of 2021-2022, a 133,000 sq ft development on Jeremy Street, and 90,000 sq ft of new build at the French Railways House. But in planning also includes developments as far as off as 35 Portman Square, which is 72,000 sq ft and earliest start is estimated at 2026.

White emphasised strong cooperation between Great Portland and Westminster, as well as with other public bodies such as Crossrail, he said: “At the Hanover square site, which sits above the Bond Street East Crossrail station we managed to renegotiated our Crossrail agreement so we could begin the scheme before they had completed the station.”

White said the trust was going to “set out our journey about how we are going to be a net zero business and that by 2030 all our new build developments will be net zero carbon.”

He also emphasised the importance of building flexibility into new design: “We have a requirement for flexible leasing, we want to create an ecosystem of offering.”

The Portman Estate owns extensive property across Marylebone, Michael Jones, their Director of Project Management described them as one of “London’s oldest great estates.”

Jones explained that the estate has a major focus on preserving and maintaining its extensive number of buildings: “We invest in the existing fabric, about two thirds of our portfolio are listed.”

However, they have also been caught in the development wave, having recently constructed a number of projects and received planning permission for a 293,000 sq ft mixed-use development at 19-35 Baker Street in a JV with Derwent London. They are also planning major public realm improvements to Manchester Square and Marble Arch.

Portman Estate has recently began helping to organise events around their properties, contributing to placemaking legacy, Jones said: “Portman Village street party, we’ve more recently started doing Christmas events at Chiltern sSreet, a real success story for our estate.”

They have also focused on maintaining the unique character of their estates by curating their commercial provision: “One of the key things for us is that we are taking back control of the retail offerings.”

The estate has focused on improving the sustainability of its properties, and Jones gave an example of their achievements: “At 2 Gloucester Place Mews in 2018 we made a refurbishment to Passivhaus standards, with an over 200-year-old property.”

Contrary to its development-shy reputation, Westminster is a hotbed for major projects, leading the way on some incredibly innovative schemes. [/emaillocker]