Property consultant WSP, the firm behind the engineering design for The Shard, estimates that a minimum of 77,000 new homes could be provided by taking to the skies and developing above the service buildings.
This would represent almost 20% of the 400,000 residential properties that London needs over the course of the next decade, while the added benefit would be being able to redevelop ageing and unused healthcare facilities at the same time.
A report by the London Health Commission recently revealed that between £50 million to £60 million was being spent each year on maintaining NHS buildings that were either not used or not fit for purpose.
WSP pointed to other examples around the world, such as in the United States, where private developers are allowed to invest in healthcare facilities and turn the top levels of them into residential properties.
Bill Price, director of the property consultant, claims there is no technical reason why London couldn't follow suit.
He does, however, stress that not every hospital in the capital should be redeveloped into an apartment block.
WSP's estimation is based on their analysis of 79 individual existing NHS buildings in London, allowing for 100 square metres per apartment and using a mixed height overbuild development strategy, with a combination of six, 12, and 18 storeys.
But it does not consider hospital buildings with A&E facilities on site, as developing on these would cause a number of specific planning and construction issues.
This initial analysis by the firm is to be followed by a wider study, which will be published in the autumn, detailing an estimate of overbuilding on all appropriate municipal buildings in the London area.
If all the new residential buildings included 18 extra storeys, WSP estimates that the strategy could provide 118,000 homes – more than a quarter of the estimated need that was outlined by Mayor Boris Johnson.
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