Work Group Share Discussion Threads

[energyi] 25/5/2004 22:41

LIVE/WORK LOOPHOLE...

"How could lofts be such a contentious issue? Lofts are a hot product in many major American cities, and San Francisco has been no exception. The controversy centers on an ordinance passed in 1989 that permitted loft development in industrial areas, where previously only low-income housing could be built. The law also waived or reduced some requirements typically imposed on residential development, such as affordable-housing set-asides and school fees.

Loft opponents say the law originally was intended to encourage inexpensive housing where artists could afford to both live and work. Instead, they say, the law is a virtual loophole for developers, who are building expensive lofts without creating any affordable housing, paying development fees, or adhering to stricter residential building codes. "
@:

--SIMILAR IN UK, But Being Closed--
2003 also gave developers some comfort on affordable housing
thresholds and targets, where Mayor Ken Livingstone had been pushing
hard for a 50% site-related target and a lower threshold of 10 units
(compared to the current 15). The Panel Report into the draft London Plan
found that 50% was appropriate as a strategic target across a whole
Borough's stock of tenure types – not as a site-related target and that it
was for the Boroughs to define such site-related targets in their UDPs. The
question of thresholds has been left to central Government Circulars and
until such time as the Circular 6/98 is revised, the threshold in the central
London boroughs in which we operate will remain at 15 units (and 25 in
Outer London). The Mayor's aspiration for a threshold of 10 units or less
remains just that, an aspiration. That is not to say that the goal posts have
not moved, however, as Boroughs such as Islington, for example, have
raised the site-related target from 25% to 35%. In Hackney, the live-work
"loophole" has been closed, with the Council refusing to accept the validity
of live-work as a Use Class, in part due to its use to avoid affordable
housing obligations and the often spurious "work" element. In our view,
most Boroughs are likely to move in the direction of 30-35%, creating a
more challenging environment for the developers of larger sites.
@:

[energyi] 23/5/2004 23:53

Another Plannned Property nearby to the phantom Haggerson stop

.
.

2-10 Hertford Road, Kingsland Basin, London Borough of Hackney

@:

Kingsland Basin Framework Study
A study of recent and planned developments to affect the Kingsland Basin.
The principle elements being:

· The ongoing, redevelopment of the redundant eastern side of the Basin (Baltic Wharf, De Beauvoir Wharf, Kings Wharf, Commercial Wharf and Quebec Wharf).
· The current imminent proposal for the redevelopment of the north end of the Basin at Downham Road, and the Hertford Road site on the Southwest corner
· The immediate to medium term prospect of extensive redevelopments on the western side of the Basin.
· The extensive change in the character of the immediate area including the potential arrival of a tube station.

· The developing policies of the Local Authority to affordable housing, live/work accommodation and the content of Section 106 Agreements.

· The potential for future development by the major freeholder, the Benyon Trust.

@:

[energyi] 23/5/2004 23:50

BETTING ON A TUBE STOP, which may not happen

(alot of the Live/Work flats are near this phantom tube)


Baltic Place, Kingsland Road, N1
For Sale: £205,000 Leasehold
1 Bedroom Apartment Block Flat

A one bedroom, ground floor, contemporary apartment live/work apartment, located within easy reach of both Angel and the City. Benefiting from a modern fitted bathroom, large open-plan kitchen-reception with balcony overlooking the Grand Union canal and a secure parking space. The flat also presents a superb investment opportunity, situated as it is within two minutes' walk of the new Haggerston tube station (not yet open). Properties in this development are currently going under offer very quickly and an early viewing is highly recommended.

@:

[energyi] 23/5/2004 10:11

PROPERTY GLUT COMING in The Docklands ??
as BTL Speculators Bid up (un-needed) New & Off-plan Flats??


Nearly half of 16,000 new homes built along 55 miles of waterfront north and south of the River Thames and around vast, open Docks stretching from Tower Bridge to the Thames barrier are available for renting.

(They Have been bought by BTL Speculators, who now need tenants)

@:

[energyi] 23/5/2004 10:02

There are loads of these places being built.

---Examples---
Oyster Wharf.. Barratt
Omega Three...
Denmark Wharf.
Victoria Wharf (mobile: giles tipping: 07813-850757)
...etc...
It seems that many builders need this in order to get planning permission.

Mayor of London - Planning Decisions, Tower Hamlets... comprising 300 residential units, 7 live/work units, 140 ... servicing and access roads and riverside walkway. ...

Mayor of London - Planning Decisions, Newham... supporting facilities including parking; riverside concourse, open ... 200 apartments, 3 live-work units, residential ... of 117 residential apartments (including 15 ...

Example:
Bow Lock, Site A (16 July 2003)
Redevelopment comprising 300 residential units, 7 live/work units, 140 bedroom hotel and 1900 sq. metres Class B1 (business) floorspace, involving the erection of buildings ranging from 3-14 storeys, and 293 parking spaces in conjunction with the formation of a roundabout on Twelve Trees Crescent, and a riverside walkway.

More Examples:

[b b muppet] 17/5/2004 00:30

E,

Working in the City was bad enough, I really can not think of anything worse than living near there as well.

Surely the point of working from home is to get as far as humanly possible away from London and the city especially in the first place?

BBM

[theape] 17/5/2004 00:01

what you make on the stamp duty.

you get stuffed on the business rates. (i.e have to pay business rates on part of the property which can be horrendous).

[energyi] 16/5/2004 22:08

Interesting... the Live/Works split can also reduce Stamp Tax (?)

Higgins Homes Unveil 'Stamp Duty Free' Apartments At Denmark Wharf

Purchasers at 'Denmark Wharf', a new build, mixed-use, canalside scheme by Higgins Homes in Limehouse, E14, have the opportunity to buy a luxury apartment and avoid stamp duty entirely, thus saving between £8,000 and £10,000. The scheme is located in a designated "disadvantaged area", which according to the Inland Revenue, means that stamp duty exemption is available for the purchase of any property that does not exceed £150,000. 'Denmark Wharf' comprises of one, two and three bedroom apartments and duplexes ranging from 743 sq ft to a sizeable 1184 sq ft and B1 office space.
Prices at 'Denmark Wharf' start at £257,950, so how does the scheme qualify for stamp duty exemption? Well, a selection of apartments at the scheme are live/work spaces. 60% of each apartment is categorized as work space, which is exempt from stamp duty, while 40% is classified as living space, which does qualify. Therefore, 40% of the total market value falls well below the £150,000 price bracket, making these apartments free of stamp duty.

Not only will purchasers be avoiding stamp duty, but residents will rest secure in the knowledge that Limehouse continues to rapidly rise in recognition. According to the Canary Wharf Estate, it's estimated that by 2006, the number of workers in Canary Wharf will have increased from 55,000 to over 90,000. With this significant population shift, an apartment at 'Denmark Wharf' promises to provide a very healthy return on investment.


@:

[energyi] 16/5/2004 21:56

LIVE/WORK: A Fad or Here to Stay?

Special Issues to consider:
- Defining Space for Work and Living
- Design issues
- Temporary Loophole, brought a glut in London
- Tax considerations
- Status not flexible*

.
ARE MANY DOING THIS?

According to some, it is becoming alot more common:

'Live/work' describes the combination of living and workspace in a single,
purpose-designed unit of accommodation – new-build or converted. It is
therefore distinct from the traditional 'working from home'.
In recent years, live/work has become an increasingly popular way of
accommodating a new kind of city-central lifestyle. Several thousand examples
have now been completed in the Shoreditch, City Fringe and Hackney areas,
as well, increasingly, as in the central districts of other major cities. Between
1995 and 1999, for example, the London Borough of Hackney alone granted
over 1000 planning consents for live/work units and, by January 2001, some
480 units had been completed in Tower Hamlets. During 2000, a third of all
new 'residential' consents in Central London boroughs were for live/work.

IS IT HERE TO STAY?
All the available market evidence suggests that demand for live/work will
continue to grow and that values will increase. Prices of both new and secondhand
units, in areas such as Hoxton and Shoreditch in Hackney, have kept
pace with rises in values of purely residential properties. Live/work appeals
to the new city centre-dwelling generation of entrepreneurs, innovators and
specialists in economic growth areas such as IT, marketing, consultancy,
Internet business and technology. Units have been developed for renting as
well as for leasehold purchase, indicating a maturing and flexible market.
@:
- - -

Avoiding The Commute:
Thousands of City commuters now add an astonishing four months a year to their working lives just by travelling to and from work each day. Many also spend around a third of their annual salary on the daily commute into work alone.
...
Figures from the RAC Foundation reveal that professionals can spend three hours a day travelling to and from work, which amounts to nearly 17 weeks a year.



(IS THIS JUST ...
a way for councils to squeeze more tax from those that work at Home?)

Central London planning authorities are likely to be keen to maintain the
distinctiveness of live/work for development control purposes.
They will also aim, as far as is feasible, to discourage its use for activities which
can be legally and effectively carried on in residential premises without the
need for planning permission (eg traditional 'working from home'). In pursuit of
these aims, planning consents may well:

- Specify a maximum two bedrooms (and the trend is mostly to provide only
one), because live/work is not considered as being suitable for family
accommodation – particularly in designated employment areas (DEAs)
- Preclude further sub-division without specific prior planning consent
- Discourage the creation of live/work at ground level, eg to retain the
commercial vitality of an employment area
- Restrict hours of working, especially near residential areas
- Require live/work developments to be able to accommodate the full range of
Class B1 activities, in terms of floor loadings and goods access
- Require disabled access in the interests of potential employees.
- - -
*The fact that live/work is classed as sui generis
means that a unit, once given planning consent as live/work, cannot be converted into entirely residential or employment use without a fresh planning consent (unless the planning authority has adopted a policy that such consent is not
necessary, as it may do for proposals to make live/work units wholly residential). In planning terms, therefore, live/work is seen as quite distinct from traditional working from home, where an individual, eg a writer or photographer, operates from one or more rooms whose residential use can resume at any time without formalities.

= = = = =
LINKS:
LiveWork website:

Example Flat (DW):
Builder Onlone:
Victoria-Wharf example:

[hi-there] 18/2/2003 12:01

LOL I
I'm not following you. I just find your posts of late particularly good.

[greystone] 18/2/2003 08:56

Sign on the wall of my own place :-

"Everyone brings joy to this office.

Some when they enter......

Others when they leave....."

[m.t.glass] 18/2/2003 01:44

Chuk, Tromso,
Brilliant stuff!

Hi Hi-there, thanks. Nice of you. Not always easy to distinguissh between fans and stalkers but I'll count you as a fan then, unless I find you behind the hedge when I get home :-)

[tromso] 18/2/2003 01:15

"Advertising Lingo"
NEW - Different color from previous design.

ALL NEW - Parts are not interchangeable with previous design.

EXCLUSIVE - Imported product.

UNMATCHED - Almost as good as the competition.

FOOLPROOF OPERATION - No provision for adjustments.

ADVANCED DESIGN - The advertising agency doesn't understand it.

IT'S HERE AT LAST - Rush job. Nobody knew it was coming.

FIELD TESTED - Manufacturer lacks test equipment.

HIGH ACCURACY - Unit on which all parts fit.

FUTURISTIC - No other reason why it looks the way it does.

REDESIGNED - Previous flaws fixed - we hope.

DIRECT SALES ONLY - Factory had a big argument with distributor.

YEARS OF DEVELOPMENT - We finally got one to work.

BREAKTHROUGH - We finally figured out a use for it.

MAINTENANCE FREE - Impossible to fix.

[tonyhamm] 26/7/2002 12:03

MacDonalds - don't be daft - that is a Key skill!
They will have Jobseeker's Allowance for 6 months and then they are on thier own! LOL!
Dusting off my labour party membership card as I speak. You know - you might think that we would have to wait for shortages to be comfirmed and then work permits issued for maybe a few needed skills, but somehow Gordan Brown seems to know EXACTLY how many shortages are in industry in advance and it just happens to be a huge 175,000!
Funny that 1/3 of graduates can't seem to get a job nowadays to help pay down thier £20,000 debt.

[tonyhamm] 26/7/2002 06:10

Well I have just found out that my work pernit's don't have to paid two sets of NI and UK Tax or be burdened with red tape and pensions etc....

- And why should they - they are not citizens. Our soon to be ex-worker's in our glorious new labour world certainly are in for a shock!

A Home Office spokesman said: "We do not know at this stage which key workers the rise relates to." - strange how they seem to know the amount needed is 175,000 then!

Still, this substantially lowers my costs, and just as importantly admin - the true cost of administering for a UK employee is a complex affair.

I am sorry you cannot get a job after 17 years in IT, but I have to say you are a massive cost to this country, and, if you are any sort of patriot, you should do the right thing and top yourself.

With ID cards and your details available to our new labour agencies your type can be controlled much more effectively at least.

[hv] 25/7/2002 23:58

No mistake,It is Labours Stated policy,WE ARE SUFFERING SKILL SHORTAGES,
THE BRITISH ARE A THICK BUNCH EVEN AFTER ALL THIS EDUCATION SPENDING.On the other hand, hear some Labour members have upto ten properties in London, how else can you find tenants,unless you have OVERSEAS WORKERS looking for
accomodation and the best part is they will want to live in London.

[ashtongray] 25/7/2002 23:52

How can there be skill shortages in the UK when we are told that educational standards and output have risen every single year for the last 2 decades??

Shome mishtake shurely...

[hv] 25/7/2002 23:47

But what the people who were born here and looking for work ? And who
were educated in this country will they be left to rot ? or maybe work
at McDonalds ?What about them?