Opinion: Why residential developers are coming around to the idea of building primary schools | City A.M.
We’re midway through exam results season and school catchment areas are thrown into the spotlight once again.
It is no secret that primary schools have struggled in recent years to accommodate growing numbers of children after a spike in the birth rate resulted in catchment areas around popular primary schools to shrink dramatically. This is particularly prevalent in London, where last year 14.1 per cent of primary school applicants failed to get into their first choice, while 4.3 per cent were not offered a place at their top three preferred schools.
Today, parents need to live no more than a few streets from a top London school to stand a chance of finding a place there for their child and this is undeniably having a direct impact on property prices across the capital. Our latest research report shows that London homes located less than 170 metres from a primary school experience on average annual price growth of £9,577. What’s more, homes within less than 250 metres of a nursery enjoy annual price growth of £9,364.
Delivering schools involves more than just looking at where they are needed, housebuilders also need to ensure that they are providing the required infrastructure to support the influx of new parents, teachers and students to an area.
While price growth is an attractive prospect, I believe many overlook one of the key benefits that having a school nearby brings. At Colindale Gardens, our flagship London development, we were keen to incorporate a new primary school on site. Introducing a school into new build developments is a great way of encouraging residents to actually get to know their neighbours.
Parents become friends through their children and fundraising events organised through schools. Schools are undeniably a vital part of the ‘placemaking’ puzzle that so many developers strive to solve, so much so that our 2017 Creating Britain’s new communities report found that nationally 90.3 per cent of people say a primary school is an important part of a sustainable new community.
It is essential for housebuilders to work closely with local councils to understand the pressures and requirements in their areas for much needed primary schools. Birth rates, migration trends and urban regeneration should all be considered factors when allocating land for educational use.
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Delivering schools involves more than just looking at where they are needed, housebuilders also need to ensure that they are providing the required infrastructure to support the influx of new parents, teachers and students to an area. Parking, new transport links such as bus routes and open green spaces are all also necessary requirements for a new school
We knew that the London Borough of Barnet had a demand for new schools with recent Department of Education statistics indicating that the borough would require eight new one form entry primary schools by the school year of 2020 to 2021. Our new three form primary school at Colindale Gardens will help meet this demand and secure our investment.
With good communication and proper planning, housebuilders and councils can work together to build the schools London needs.