Peabody calls for patient capital
Peabody's Chief Executive, Brendan Sarsfield has called for long term thinking from investors for our future cities. He was making a presentation at our City Hall, London event 'The Making of the Modern City' on 8th May for Future Cities Forum. Listen to Brendan's full speech above by clicking on the arrow.
Peabody Trust was set up in the 19th century by the philanthropist and financier George Peabody but now the merged Family Mosaic / Peabody operation owns 57,000 homes in London and Essex and is building another 3,000 a year in London.
Brendan says residents are very proud of living in Peabody estates because of the design and ageless quality and although facilities such as kitchens and bathrooms are small, there is big demand for Peabody homes because of their excellent locations.
In contrast, Brendan has some concerns: 'we need a new financial model for social housing because of the importance of community investment and because the state is withdrawing from this. A fresh approach would help to tackle knife culture and give people new opportunities'.
Brendan says he is very grateful for Grosvenor ensuring Peabody tenants can still live in Mayfair and the benefit is that those people keep the area alive at weekends, when second home owners depart.
The most important question for London he says is still who owns the land? Brendan would like a freeholder licensing system to provide the long term view. He says he is an advocate of the patient investor to maintain London's important diversity.
Listen the his speech above where he talks about all of this along with the development of Thamesmead and Nine Elms.
Aerial view of Thamesmead
