Groundhog day for UK construction

Mon 1st August

This summer is developing into something of a Groundhog Day for projects that have stumbled through conception or construction in the past two decades:

1) Yes there's Wembley - what price the client and contractor reaching a settlement now?

2) Battersea Power Station - will this project ever stack up? The report in last week's Property Week appeared to sum up the chicken and egg situation experienced by the developer - funders want guaranteed tenants while tenants want definitive start and completion dates for construction. I would also add the issue of transport as a crucial one to the future of the scheme. Yes, the developer Parkview will point to work being done on this but I'm still yet to be convinced that the project can work without a London Underground station nearby.

3) Bath Spa. It will open next week! Praise the Lord!

Fri 28st July

Figures that reveal the increasing density of new housing developments are hardly surprising. Research revealed on our site from both CB Richard Ellis and Wolseley Securities underline how many more units are being packed into new schemes. The government has obvioulsy been banging the drum for such a squeeze on space. But to use the catch-all politically correct phrase of the day, is this sustainable? My admittedly unscientific observations of new flat schemes in and around the country (viewed from occasional train countries across the counties) leads me to think not. Will we view these private developments of sardine-esque two-bedroom flats slung in and around city and town centres in any better light in 20-30 years than the public housing blocks put up in the 1960s and 70s? Just how flexible are such flats beyond the first rung on the property ladder for young professionals? The answer is probably a very mixed one, depending on the quality of each development. But one further observation - if the balconies on offer on such schemes are just able to fit one chair (with no leg room) and a small pot plant is there any point to them? Such so-called 'Juliet' balconies in estate agent parlance are a joke.