New Kent Road

Please find below an update on New Kent Row:

We have now received the evidence of the door certification, which has highlighted the need to include some fire curtains on the bin store doors at ground floor level. We believe this will allow us to achieve practical completion. These curtains need to be fabricated, and we are now forecasting that practical completion will be reached in mid-February.

Preparation for building safety registration continues, and we still anticipate being able to submit for registration shortly after practical completion. However, the update regarding the fire curtains means that there is a risk that occupation may be delayed slightly, into April 2025. We are working closely with our contractor to avoid this, and we will keep you updated of progress.

We will provide our next update on Tuesday 04 February 2025 to update you on progress toward practical completion.

Thank you for your continued patience.

Please find below an update on New Kent Row.

To achieve practical completion, we are awaiting two key pieces of evidence on door certification from the contractor. We anticipate achieving practical completion by the end of January.

We are now reviewing our building safety report to prepare for registration, we will provide you with an interim update on 24 January which will advise whether we are still on track for occupation in March 2025.

Thank you for your continued patience.

Thank you again for your continued patience on our New Kent Road development.

I am pleased to confirm that since our last update, the action raised regarding the insulation of some ductwork on the ground floor has been completed and we are just awaiting the final documentation from the contractor. We had hoped from our last update that we would achieve practical completion from the contractor before Christmas, however as it is not possible for us to achieve 10 clear days contractual notice, it will now occur in January 2025.

We are keen to emphasise that achieving practical completion is a milestone but does not conclude the requirements we need to register with the building safety regulator. The delay to practical completion does not affect the continued preparation of information, or the anticipated handover date; and we still anticipate occupation in March 2025.

We will provide you with our next update on 16 January 2025. However, if we take practical completion prior to this date, we will update you sooner.

If you have any questions then you can submit them via the questions tab on this webpage, or by emailing sales@southernhousing.org.uk.

Thank you for your continued patience on our New Kent Row development.

In our last update, we advised that external works to the pavements were nearly complete and snagging to individual apartments had started. We said that the heating system in the apartments needed to be commissioned and tested before being approved, and we advised that there was a delay with the Thames Water connection; I am pleased to confirm that all these items have now been completed along with final testing and commissioning.

The only work left onsite is related to an action raised on the fire inspector’s report regarding the insulation of some ductwork on the ground floor. This is set to be complete by the end of November, we will then require the works to be signed off and documentation to be issued.

As a result of the above, handover from the contractors to Southern Housing is now estimated for December 2024. Please note that this is an estimated date and is subject to change.

As you are aware, since the introduction of the Building Safety Act, we’re also required by law to register this building with the Building Safety Regulator, as part of the new legal requirements for Higher-Rise Buildings (HRBs). This means any building over 18 meters, or 7 storeys needs to have formal approval before anyone can move-in.

We’re continuing to work with our contractor to compile all the relevant information for review and making the application. This process is taking longer than we had expected. Once our Building Safety Team has reviewed the information, they can register the building. Following this, we’ll need confirmation from the regulator that we can occupy the building.

We now estimate it will be March 2025 before you can move into your new home, please note this is an estimation and subject to change. We are very sorry that we are having to communicate further delays, we are doing everything we can to speed up the process and if we can allow occupation sooner then we will of course do so.

Next update

We will provide another update with progress on site by 20th December 2024.

If you wish to discuss your individual circumstances you can contact your sales progressor, Alisha. You can also contact us by email at sales@southernhousing.org.uk or via the link on this webpage.

Latest update issued 21st August 2024

We wanted to update you with the progress of our development New Kent Row, SE1.

Good progress is being made; Scaffolding is fully struck down from the development. External works to the pavements are nearly complete. Snagging to individual apartments has now started.

The contractors have however had some unforeseen delays. They have been delayed with Thames Water connection; this is now due to be connected approx. mid-September. Heating system in the apartments needs to be commissioned and tested before being approved.

As a result, handover from the contractors to Southern Housing has now been delayed. We estimated handover to now been October/November 2024.

In addition to the build delay, New Kent Row must be registered with The Building Safety Regulator (BSR). To provide context, all new developments which are over 18 meters tall, or 7 storeys must be registered and approved by BSR before we can legally occupy the homes.

The need to register this development was not anticipated when we entered into our agreement with the contractors and as such, much of the required documentation is not readily available and will need to be obtained from third parties. This will add additional delays to you occupying your home beyond October 2024. We are working with the contractors to obtain these documents.

At the moment, we cannot provide a definitive timeline for obtaining the additional documentation. What we can do is let you know what actions are and will be taken in order to obtain the documents.

Step 1 - We must review what documents we have and what documents are yet to be received.

Step 2 - Once we identify what additional documents are required by BSR, we’ll request these from the contractor who will liaise with any third parties to obtain.

Step 3 - Part of obtaining the additional documentation, further inspections will naturally need to take place within the development.

Step 4 - Once we have the full suite of documents which can be requested by BSR, this will be internally reviewed by Southern Housing building safety team

Step 5 - Once our internal building safety team have reviewed and approved the suite of documents, we will then formally submit our registration to BSR.

Step 6 - Once in receipt of our documents, BSR have up to 12 weeks to review, request additional documents and approve.

We are truly sorry this isn’t the news you were hoping for and can only apologise. Building and fire safety is extremely important to us and with regulations and legislation changing rapidly, we must adhere to the necessary requirements. I would like to reassure you we are doing everything we can to speed up the process.

Given the delay to handover and the additional steps required to register this development, its important you are aware this is not a quick process and can potentially take several months to complete. We now estimate it will be January 2025 before you can move into your new home. Please note this is just an estimation and subject to change. If we can however complete the process sooner, we’d love nothing more than to move you in as soon as possible.