231 Flats Planned For The Old Buzz Bingo Building in Chatham

Hello Readers,

With its excellent connections to London, Kent and Europe, Chatham really is becoming something of a city suburb and it’s exciting to see the plans which have recently been submitted for the old Buzz Bingo hall in the town centre.

You could say that the plans have something of a ‘buzz’ about them… sorry, I just couldn’t help myself.

These plans are just the latest in a series of exciting regeneration plans for Chatham that include major developments such as 175 flats at the Trafalgar Centre, redevelopment of Mountbatten House, a large-scale development at Chatham Waterfront and a ￡9.5m facelift for the town centre.

The map below outlines the extensive redevelopment of other schemes within the local area; you will see this is quite expansive!

It’s an exciting time to be a Medway property investor and I’m looking forward to seeing the transformation to the landscape when these major schemes come into fruition.

As well as transforming the area, there will inevitably be a knock on impact on house prices and rental demand (however, higher end apartments could mean rental properties need to be that next level in terms of quality to compete in the market).

Developer, Donard Living had a public consultation back in November and how now formally submitted plans to Medway Council for this exciting project which was designed by POD Architects Ltd. The most exciting thing is that the Donard Living hopes to be able to start construction some time later this year!

Residents of the development will have access to a private amenity space and the vast majority having private balconies or terraces.

As you can imagine, there is some outcry about the usual parking issue and this development will have just 95 parking spaces. I wonder what the impact on local streets will be as unlike a central London location, people living in Medway do tend to need access to a car.

Something that I found particularly interesting about the plans was the focus on sustainability. With the drive to improve energy performance standards, the new homes will be energy efficient and according to the developer’s website generate up to 60% less carbon than required by current building regs. I reckon this is something we will see more and more in the future.

What do you think about these plans? It will be interesting to see if they pass through planning as quickly as the developer hopes so that construction on the scheme can begin this year.

As property investors, we’re always keen to see how the local area is developing and this is yet another positive one to keep an eye on that’s for sure!

Hasan