Plans to fast track the delivery of approximately 2,000 homes on the site of a former Parcelforce depot in East London will be announced today (Wednesday, March 11) by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.
The 10 hectare Stephenson Street site at West Ham, Newham used to comprise a large scale Parcelforce warehouse and car park and is the latest of several sites in the Mayor’s ownership to be released for housing. These land holdings came under the control of the Mayor three years ago when he inherited almost 700 hectares of surplus public land across the capital. So far, 90 per cent of this land is now in development or in the process of development.
With two million Londoners now privately renting, it is expected that a third of the new homes in this residential-led mixed use scheme will be for high quality, long-term private rent, with the remainder delivered as affordable housing to buy or rent as well as and private for sale aimed at Londoners.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “With London now home to more people than ever before, housing supply and affordability is our biggest challenge. By seeking a development partner for the Stephenson Street site we hope to entice investors and developers to come forward and build quality homes for Londoners.”
Richard Blakeway, Deputy Mayor for Housing, Land and Property confirmed the plans at the MIPIM international property forum in Cannes today. Both he and Sir Edward Lister, Deputy Mayor for Planning, are at MIPIM this week to directly lobby key investors and developers as they work to double house building, including the provision for more affordable and low cost homes for hard working Londoners, and to fund major regeneration projects around the capital.
Richard Blakeway said: “City Hall is leading the way with a range of creative approaches to address a 30 year failure to build enough homes. This new opportunity will transform surplus public land into new homes and we trust that UK developers present at MIPIM will be keen to work with us as we look to build the homes our city needs.”
The development partner will be sought through the Mayor’s London Development Panel of 25 UK-based developers, which allows public land owners to avoid lengthy procurement processes and award individual contracts more quickly and encourages members to team up with institutional investors to bid. Developers present at MIPIM who are not members of the panel will be able to join forces with members to bid for the site.
The Mayor’s work to redevelop disused public land is one strand of his comprehensive Housing Strategy to double house building and create the homes hardworking Londoners need. He is set to deliver a record 100,000 low cost homes for Londoners over his two terms, with more than 83,000 already completed. In this financial year, more affordable homes are expected to be built than in any other year since 1981.
The Mayor continues to stimulate house building in the capital with a range of pioneering new policies, including accelerating supply through 20 Housing Zones and a housing bank providing loan funding – both delivering affordable home options for hard working Londoners. Last month, he announced the first nine Housing Zones which will bring forward enormous regeneration and transform key areas of the capital, with £260m of new investment to deliver 28,000 much needed new homes.
In September last year, the Mayor selected preferred bidders for two other sites in Newham, owned by the Greater London Authority (GLA), to fast track the creation of more than 1,200 new high quality homes including 480 homes for long-term private rent.
Galliford Try Plc working with OPAL LAND LLP, has been selected as the preferred delivery partner for Silvertown Way in Canning Town. Bouygues Development working with a consortium backed by the London Pensions Fund Authority and Grainger plc has been selected as the delivery partner for Pontoon Dock, a 0.69 hectare site within Royal Docks
The £117m redevelopment of ‘Catford Green’ is bringing more than a thousand jobs and 589 new homes to the 4.7 hectare site in the heart of Lewisham under a deal reached between the Mayor and developer Barratt London. When finished, this will include 173 low cost homes to rent and buy.
Other public sites which are being developed under the Mayor include: Trenchard House in Soho, Cane Hill in Croydon, St Clements and Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Tower Hamlets, Lymington Fields in Dagenham, and Greenwich Square in Greenwich.
Yesterday at MIPIM (10 March), Sir Edward Lister announced the publication of the updated London Plan – the capital’s overarching planning strategy to deliver the economic, environmental, transport and social improvements that London will need over the next 20 years.