Member Article

Second phase of Newham's flagship affordable homes seek consent

The English Cities Fund (ECF) has submitted a planning application to London Borough of Newham, for the second phase of Manor Road Quarter, a community that is being created in Canning Town.

ECF is a joint venture between nationwide placemaker, Muse, Homes England, and Legal & General, one of the UK’s leading financial services groups and major global investor.

The next stage of the landmark project will create 290 homes across four new buildings, along with new leisure and amenity space. Should the second phase receive consent in June, ECF will be working towards a start on site in 2024.

Work on the first part of Manor Road Quarter started in September 2021 and has just passed the half-way point of the build. It features a landmark 32-storey tower and 335 new homes, alongside ground-floor retail units and beautifully-curated public spaces for the community to enjoy.

Subject to planning approval, the second and third phases will see Manor Road Quarter bring forward a further 449 homes, making for a total of 804 new homes in Canning Town, of which 50% will be affordable. The completed neighbourhood will also include a new 2.5-acre park, providing a stunning space to dwell and spend time in for both residents and the wider community. The green space will also help promote active travel through new walking and cycle routes – creating a vibrant, inclusive, and connected community space.

Duncan Cumberland, residential director at The English Cities Fund, said: “We’ve been investing in Canning Town for a long time and feel Manor Road Quarter, which follows on from the new homes we created next door at Rathbone Market, is a key catalyst in revitalising the area. Aside from the new places we are creating, phase one has already delivered so many valuable benefits in terms of jobs, apprenticeships, training opportunities for the community, along with bringing investment into the local economy. We hope to continue that through phase two and beyond.”

The design for phase two of Manor Road Quarter consists of a quartet of new buildings, designated D, E, F and G.

Block D is the lowest of the buildings at 8-storey and is located on the western side of the scheme. It has ground floor commercial space and 55 residential homes on the upper floors.

Block E is a standalone 12-storey building located to the northern end of the site and comprises 90 homes, also with commercial space on the ground floor. Blocks F and G are located on the eastern side of the site and include ground floor commercial, a residents’ lounge and amenity, storage and cycle parking and upper floors designated as residential, creating 145 homes in total. In each building, a proportion of the new homes will have three bedrooms.

Manor Road Quarter will feature large cycle storage, in line with Greater London Authority guidelines. Given its very close proximity to London Underground, DLR and bus routes, only 24 car parking bays will be provided to encourage the use of sustainable and more active modes of transport. External features such as green areas, a skate park and an outdoor gym will also help improve the health and wellbeing levels of those living and working in the area.

The new neighbourhood at Manor Road is being delivered by ECF in partnership with the Greater London Authority’s Homes for Londoners’ team, London Borough of Newham and Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing Association (MTVH), one of the UK’s largest housing associations. The 177 affordable homes built in phase one will be owned, managed and administered by MTVH.

Manor Road Quarter follows on from ECF’s successful completion of the Rathbone Market in Canning Town. This scheme saw the creation of a £160 million mixed-use development that features 652 homes, 32,000 sq. ft of retail space, a library, Neighbourhood Centre, and two new public spaces including the permanent home of the newly revitalised Rathbone Market.

Manor Road Quarter has been designed by EPR Architects, with Gardiner and Theobald as the quantity surveyor, Gleeds operating as the client project manager, and Longboard Consulting as the planning consultant. The project is targeted to achieve a ‘Very Good’ rating on BREEAM and it is estimated that the design of the building will reduce the building’s carbon output by 51%.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by John Robson .