19 April 2022
Offering expertise to Centrepoint could help put the ‘S’ in your ESG
Remember the famous Lord Kitchener recruitment poster from 1914, “Your country needs you”? This is the approach Centrepoint is taking to call on the building industry to support our crucial work with youth homelessness. We are not asking for money – we are asking for expertise.
Article written by executive director Niamh O’Connor on youth homelessness and how the property industry can contribute to tackling it.
Relevance: Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG)
2 August 2021
Fulford Green – A 21st Century Garden Village
Max Farrell, CEO of LDN Collective, discusses our proposals at Fulford Green…”What we can do is create new places with a minimal impact on the environment and positive benefits for existing and new communities. We can’t deliver environmentally sustainable homes unless we also work hard to create socially and economically sustainable places. So when the LDN Collective were commissioned by Summix to create a vision for a 21st Century new community at Fulford Green in Solihull, that was our starting point. Making a sustainable community, not just sustainable homes.”
22 July 2021
The Voice of Authority: How can we make sure new places are sustainable?
We need 300,000 new homes a year, the Government says. But the UK government set the world’s most ambitious climate change target, to reduce emissions by 78% by 2035. And some councils are striving for net zero emissions from their own operations by 2030, and across their areas by 2041. Webinar panel discussion with Richard Kimblin QC (No5 Barristers Chambers), Mary Morrisey (Solihull Metropolitan Council) and Max Farrell (LDN Collective) hosted by 3Fox. Includes a presentation of Fulford Green as a case study for sustainable placemaking.
15 June 2021
The Voice of Authority: What new settlements can deliver for the Oxford-Cambridge Arc
The Oxford Cambridge Arc is to deliver a number of garden towns, garden villages and new developments. But what will they deliver for the Arc? New towns and villages might provide a relatively quick route to growth, but the Arc’s residents will demand a persuasive case for speedy development. People want places free from the growing pains of established towns and cities, rather than a fast track to the same old problems. Webinar panel discussion with Lord Matthew Taylor (author of the Garden Communities policies adopted by government and chair of West Carclaze Eco-Community in Cornwall), Hannah Smart (Edge Urban Design and LDN Collective) and Bev Hindle (Executive Director, Oxford Cambridge Arc Leadership Group) hosted by 3Fox.
2 April 2021
Harrington – LDN Collective addresses United Nations Development Programme conference
Maxwell Farrell, CEO of LDN Collective, references Harrington and our ambitions to create an exemplary new settlement..."We are currently working on the first new town in the UK to have a response to the climate emergency in its DNA in Harrington, South Oxfordshire. As well as being zero carbon we are increasing biodiversity, addressing nitrogen oxide in the air and water, enabling local food production and creating local mobility hubs.".
26 January 2021
Lord Matthew Taylor talks about Harrington – where tradition meets tomorrow
".....That’s my ambition as part of a team led by the developer Summix and masterplanned by the London Collective, thinking through a 21st century new community at Harrington in South Oxfordshire that would be genuinely sustainable, and a great place to live. .....", Lord Matthew Taylor, author of the Garden Communities policies adopted by government and chair of West Carclaze Eco-Community in Cornwall.
6 January 2021
Green light for mixed-use scheme in Bath
Summix Capital has been given the green light for a new mixed-use scheme in Bath which will deliver 52 student studios and 28 student en-suite rooms.
1 December 2020
Appeal of the PBSA sector holds up
Property Week and Student Roost brought together a panel of industry experts to discuss the challenges facing the purpose-built student accommodation sector and the opportunities that have opened up this year.
Partner at Summix Capital, Niamh O’Connor: "We remain upbeat about the sector. Transaction volume is still there; it might be slightly lower than where it has been, but long-term institutional investors still see a lot of resilience in the market. We are not seeing any transactional distress; banks are not pulling the carpet from under people. Part of the reason we are still active is we see the recovery period coinciding with construction periods. If you have a two-year construction period, we think the market will have actively recovered from Covid and there will be pent-up demand that will need to be fulfilled for the academic year in 2022-23, for example."
Relevance: PBSA (Student) Industry
6 November 2020
Student Roost moves into Bristol with PBSA and co-living scheme
Student Roost has bought two new sites for PBSA schemes in York and Bristol from Summix Capital.......Under a £70m forward funding deal with Watkin Jones, Student Roost will deliver a 291-bed scheme at Unity Street in Bristol - its first scheme in the city - and a 368-bed property at Frederick House in York.
....“It’s fantastic news that we’ve been able to agree this deal with Summix Capital and Watkin Jones, particularly in the current environment,” said Student Roost chief investment officer Stephen Rigby.....
Stuart Black, development director at Summix Capital, commented: “We are delighted to have completed the sales of these two fantastic sites during such difficult times, which is testament to the quality of the projects and the parties involved, and are excited to see them progress through to the next stage of their development.”
8 October 2020
Plans for new 186 bedroom City Centre hotel
Planning permission is being sought for the constructions of a new hotel in Galway City Centre, down by the docks, with 186 bedrooms. Plans have been submitted by Summix BNM Developments to the city council to demolish a vacant industrial building on Lough Atalia Road next to Forthill Cemetery.
10 September 2020
Canongate Edinburgh Architecture Award
Located within the Old Town Conservation Area, in the heart of Edinburgh’s UNESCO World Heritage Site, the project lies adjacent to the A-listed Old Tolbooth Wynd and Canongate Kirk.
10 January 2020
Student Roost roundtable: PBSA on course for UK growth
Student Roost and Property Week assembled a panel of experts to discuss the key issues, challenges and growth opportunities for purpose-built student accommodation in the UK.
Relevance: PBSA (Student) Industry
19 December 2019
Liberties 368-student residence plan gets approval
An Bord Pleanála has given the green light for 368 student bed spaces in Dublin’s Liberties, where the promoters are promising to provide high-end student accommodation “akin to a boutique hotel”.