#almshouses

#almshouses

"Too often new developments don't come with the services and infrastructure they need. Our policy would get new or expanded GP surgeries up and running to serve new developments, right from the moment the first homes are sold."

Originally known as Sneads Court on John Rocque's map of London in 1746, the area was wider and more of a courtyard than an alley. Over time, it was renamed Hertford Place and later Yarmouth Mews as the neighborhood evolved into larger hotels and grand houses.

The changes will see 87 apartments built across three blocks as part of Phase Five of the development, instead of 20 townhouses developer Qatari Diar originally asked for.

The Grade II listed building is on Historic England's Heritage at Risk Register and is currently recorded as being in poor condition. The national Marine Society and Sea Cadets (MSSC), which held the lease, has confirmed that it can no longer meet the building's repair obligations and will surrender the lease so that restoration can be carried out by new occupants.

This part of London sits just outside the historic City walls, so it attracted traders who wanted to avoid the strict rules binding City merchants. The land was later acquired by Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Cleveland, who developed it, hence the main road being named Wentworth Street. If you're wondering about Ann's Place, that was probably after his wife, Anne Hopton.

These days, brutalist buildings are among London's most celebrated works of architecture. But it hasn't always been this way. Back in 1967, the Southbank Centre, one of the city's most striking examples of the style, was voted Britain's ugliest building by readers of the Daily Mail. In the latest indicator of just how much times have changed, today (February 10) the Southbank Centre has been awarded listed status by the Department for Culture Media and Sport.

When I moved in here it truly was my last resort. Since living here I feel like I have the same independent life that my friends have and I just don't want to lose that. The guide dog run is probably the most important thing for me. It's a safe and confined area where I feel comfortable taking my dog out, especially at night.

I met Carole Guscott, a retired former carer, on a clear winter's morning in the Somerset town of Minehead. She was walking her whippet, Gracie, on the way back to her new flat, past the local Premier Inn and on to a cul de sac called Rainbow Way. I knew as soon as I saw it, she told me. I just thought: I can make this place my home.'

The row of shops (and pub) here used to be known as Butchers' Row as it was lined with, well, butchers of course - and they would hang their meat outside their stores on rows of metal hooks. Most of the buildings have since been redeveloped, but the gap between shops on Aldgate High Street has been there since shortly after WWII. The gap wasn't due to bomb damage, but for some reason, one building was cleared, and later its neighbour as well.

A proposal to build 15,000 new homes on a brownfield site at Thamesmead has been shortlisted as one of 12 "new towns" across the country to help meet house-building targets. The plan was given a boost last year with the Chancellor backing a Docklands Light Railway (DLR) extension to the area, but the scheme is still waiting formal government approval.

The world's oldest surviving gasholder is to be restored and repurposed as part of a housing development in west London. Hammersmith & Fulham Council has approved plans that will see the Grade II* listed Gasholder No.2 at King's Road Park restored, securing the future of a structure that will soon reach its 200th birthday. Built between 1829 and 1830, Gasholder No.2 is believed to be the oldest surviving gasholder in the world.

The number of refugee households who are homeless or at risk of homelessness has surged fivefold in the past four years. Government figures for England reveal a rise from 3,560 in 2021/22 to 19,310 in 2024/25. Charities blame the increase on a "direct result" of government policy, citing the 28-day period newly-recognised refugees get to leave Home Office accommodation - including hotels - as well as faster processing of asylum applications.

The High Court has ruled that a west London council acted unlawfully and failed an orphaned child by leaving him in squalid conditions in order to avoid the financial burden of taking him on as looked after. While the child lived with his sister, who was also a child, the case was bought on behalf of only one of them. As a result of these tenancy succession laws, the child became a trespasser in his own home.

In January 2022, Henry Construction was awarded a 40 million contract by the local authority to deliver 105 Passivhaus-standard new homes across these six sites all designed by Bell Phillips and work started on the schemes later that year. The Ealing Council building Nearly 18 months later in June 2023, the builder went into administration, leaving some buildings unfinished, though close to completion. At the time, the council said it was committed to completing all of the homes a position which has since changed.