Canada Water: Why British Land have gone into the residential market in southeast London
Commercial property giant British Land is making its debut into the residential market with the launch of 186 ‘net-zero’ apartments at its new regeneration project at Canada Water.
The FTSE 100 company will create 186 studio, one, two and three bedroom homes at new residential site, The Founding, Canada Water, with prices for homes starting at £696k.
It comes as part of the group’s ‘Canada Water Masterplan’ which is a 50:50 joint venture between British Land and superannuation fund group AustralianSuper, working in partnership with Southwark Council to create a new town centre for London.
Alongside the new apartment offering, some 12 acres of new open space, including a 3.5-acre park, a new town square, and the first new high street in London for 100 years will also be launched.
British Land said that the project will be a net-zero neighbourhood by 2030, using an “all-electric energy strategy” which uses 100 per cent renewable electricity. Phase one of the scheme is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2024.
“A whole new district and destination for London, will be created at Canada Water, with the rest of London on the doorstep. Canada Water is incredibly well-connected to central London, minutes from London Bridge, and has huge untapped potential – it’s incredibly exciting,” Emma Cariaga, head of residential and joint head of Canada Water, at British Land, said.
In total the entire plan will comprise of a 53-acre, mixed-use scheme that will deliver around two million sq ft of workspace to accommodate approximately 20,000 jobs and around one million sq ft of retail, leisure, entertainment, education and community space.
It represents one of British Land’s biggest current projects, alongside the Broadgate development in the City.
It comes as there has been a significant number of developments across London over the past few years.
Most recently, developers revealed that a derelict exhibition centre in Earls Court will also be transformed into a £8bn zero carbon neighbourhood.
Furthermore, last year Battersea Power Station was reopened to the public after 40 years, when the abandoned coal-fired power station was transformed into a shopping centre and apartment complex.