Boris announces four more housing zones

Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, has announced a further four Housing Zones across London, accelerating efforts to deliver the new housing that London needs and transforming large swathes of the capital at the same time.

Related topics:  Property
Warren Lewis
25th June 2015
London 2

The new zones in the boroughs of Havering, Enfield, Redbridge and Tower Hamlets will together deliver over 12,000 new homes, nearly 3,500 of which will be affordable housing. This will bring the number of Housing Zones announced to 15 with a total of 45,109 homes created, 14,055 of them affordable.

The Mayor of London has contributed a total of £162 million in funding to the new Housing Zones, which are a collaborative effort between the Greater London Authority, the government and local boroughs to streamline approval processes and fast-track development in areas where it may not otherwise happen.

Included in the new Housing Zones will be two brand new rail stations, a large new park, new primary schools, and new retail and entertainment precincts. They will revitalise currently disused brownfield sites and turn them into neighbourhoods where Londoners will work, live and visit.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: “Housing Zones will provide the swift delivery of new homes for Londoners that is so desperately needed and create entirely new, highly-connected urban districts for generations to come. By freeing up empty brownfield sites from lengthy approval processes and providing a funding boost, we can ensure new housing capacity is created in areas where it might never otherwise have happened. I am very pleased that the announcement of four more Housing Zones today brings us within touching distance of our aim to create 50,000 new homes through this innovative scheme.”

The announcement was made today at a London First event hosted by BNP Paribas Real Estate, attended by Deputy Mayor for Housing and Land Richard Blakeway.

Jonathan Seager, Director of Housing Policy at London First said: “We need to double housebuilding in the capital if we are to keep London a competitive city where people want to live and work. These new housing zones will provide a welcome boost to meeting this ambition.”

Rainham and Beam Park Housing Zone in the borough of Havering is one of the biggest development sites at 12 square kilometres, and will include the new Beam Park rail station with 20-minute access into the heart of London. The Housing Zone will include the Beam Park site recently released by the Mayor for development, the largest slab of land that had been in the Mayor's portfolio. The council plans on creating a new “garden suburb” from former industrial land with 3,457 new homes, 941 of them affordable.

Havering Council Leader and Cabinet Member for Value Councillor Roger Ramsey said: “This is incredibly exciting news for the residents in Rainham, and the Borough as a whole. The changes this funding will allow us to implement will have a lasting positive impact on their lives.”

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