The Old Kent Road is probably best known for being the first and cheapest square on the Monopoly board. But it’s a road with a long and interesting history, starting with the Celts and then forming part of Watling Street – a Roman Road stretching from Dover to London and then up to the Midlands and across to Wales.
In recent times the area has become a hub for industry and transport with its odd mix of new council housing estates, retail warehouses and a traffic hub in the shape of the Bricklayers Arms junction and flyover. Burgess Park, now one of the largest parks in South London, provides locals with some much-needed greenery.
There are now plans for an ambitious regeneration of the area that could rival – or even improve on – the redevelopment of the nearby Elephant and Castle. The proposals for the Old Kent Road are ambitious: three new Tube stations on the Bakerloo Line, a new town centre, 20,000 new homes, 10,000 new jobs, two new primary schools and a new secondary school; all to be developed over a 20-year programme of investment.
There are already 43 new residential or mixed-use developments either recently built, under development, granted planning consent or in the pipeline, providing an estimated 8,000 new homes. New homes developments on the Old Kent Road can expect to command values of £700 to £800 per sq ft.
One new development on the site known as Ruby Triangle, will be delivered by property developer Avanton. Sky Gem Tower London phase 1 has just been given planning permission and will provide 1,152 new homes across five new buildings. There will also be a new community sports hall and fitness centre, new open space including a public park, flexible commercial space including incubator workspace and studios for local entrepreneurs.
As a known name in Build to Rent in both London and the North East, Ringley is delighted to have been chosen as operator for the Ruby Triangle scheme. Avanton aims to deliver homes where tenants want to stay, wıth options to trade up or down within the development, building brand loyalty with renters. With more than 20 years’ experience in residential management, we will have a key role to play.
While we are waiting for the Ruby Triangle scheme to be ready to rent, we will be using our knowledge of the rental sector to provide Avanton with strategic advice and working with them to plan each resident journey to deliver a lifecycle-led offering. We will also be recruiting and training on-site staff, building up to full operational asset management.
We will be blogging about the scheme again as it starts to take shape, so watch this space. And if you live in London, keep an eye on the Old Kent Road. It’s all change from now on.