The Mayor of London on Tuesday agreed a loan to a builder that specialises in developing flats above the capital’s rooftops.
Sadiq Khan has signed off on the £10 million deal with Apex Airspace which will see 500 new homes built, of which 50% will be affordable. It is the first time he has supported an “airspace developer”.
Baker Street-headquartered Apex Airspace will use the funding to create homes above existing ones or over stations, offices, shops and car parks.
It builds its new homes in factories and, when they are 95% complete, installs them on roofs, minimising disruption for those in the properties below.
The firm, led by Arshad Bhatti, is looking to create apartments in some 15 London boroughs.
It thinks there is scope for 180,000 rooftop properties in the capital. Areas it has previously worked in include Camden and West Hampstead, and it recently secured separate funding from the Government’s Homes England.
It is hoped the company can help City Hall to meet its target of 65,000 new homes per year.
James Murray, deputy mayor for housing and residential development, said: “London’s housing crisis has been decades in the making, and we need to use every possible opportunity to build more council, social rented, and other genuinely affordable homes.”
Work on sites will start before 2022.
