Housing shortfall

Ian Sadler; Royal Connaught Park; Elstree House apartments; Argyll House will have 26 two- to four-bedroom apartments.

Linden Homes is offering one- and two-bedroom apartments and threeand four-bedroom houses in Borehamwood. The three-bedroom townhouse, The Chaplin, is for sale from £515,000.

Nearby Elstree House is a conversion of a six-storey office building, covered externally in granite. Developers have benefited from temporary rules allowing office buildings to be converted to residential use without planning permission. “Elstree House is being transformed into 79 luxury apartments (each with outside space) with parking, a gym, garden and children’s play area,” says Grant Alexson, principal of agent GA Residential. “This scheme is a direct result of the government’s n e w H o u s i n g and Planning Bill, allowing offices to be converted into homes.”

The developer has already completed schemes in Camberley, Reading, Farnborough and Hertford; all sold out quickly on completion.

In St Albans, Crest Nicholson is making community the mainstay of its marketing campaign for Napsbury Quarters, where it has refurbished a mix of three- and fourbedroom town houses and one- to three-bedroom apartments. Leisure options include a golf society, tennis courts, park areas and even book clubs. Agent is Aitchisons.

It has become harder for housebuilders to gain public acceptance for planned projects. People seem to be generally reluctant to see big property schemes built. But a willing government has made developers’ life easier and may help steady property prices in hotspots such as the South-East.