The Communities Secretary, James Brokenshire MP, has announced significant government funding that will link new housing to Central London.
Brent Cross Cricklewood
Barnet Council has secured nearly £320 million of government funding that will culminate in a new Brent Cross West Railway Station. The funding is in addition to the £97 million grant awarded in the 2016 Budget, and the station forms part of a £4.5 billion regeneration project that was identified in the London Plan.
Building work will commence with the expansion of Brent Cross Shopping Centre, which will enable Barnet Council to borrow the funds to deliver the new station, through ring-fenced business rates. It is hoped the scheme will lead to a ‘vibrant new town centre’ in north-west London. However, the joint venture between Hammerson and Aberdeen Standard Investments was one of several deferred by Hammerson in July 2018, because of ‘heightened uncertainty’ in the retail market. Hammerson has said it will keep all projects on hold until at least 2020, while it focuses on selling over £500 million of property assets to pay down the company’s debts.
When it is built, the new station will make Central London accessible within quarter of an hour on the Thameslink route.
New infrastructure will eventually enable the building of a new community of 7,500 homes as well as workspace, school buildings and parks, will be delivered from the three-scheme Brent Cross Cricklewood regeneration programme.
Old Oak Common
Old Oak Common will be the only intersection to link HS2, between London with the West Midlands, with Crossrail, which connects London east-west. The area around Old Oak and Park Royal is to undergo a huge transformation, at the centre of which will be the new Old Oak Common HS2 Railway Station.
Scheduled to open in 2026, Old Oak Common station will give 250,000 HS2 travellers access through the site daily.
Government funding of £250 million will enable infrastructure to be built that will deliver 13,000 new homes close to the station, near East Acton in London, transforming the area into a ‘landmark destination’ in London.
The 640 hectare development site spans land in Brent, Ealing and Fulham Boroughs. The Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) will oversee the development, which will be the largest regeneration site in London. As the local planning authority for the area, the OPDC will determine planning decisions.
Funds will come from the government’s  Housing Infrastructure Fund, which is a £5.5 billion grant programme that launched in 2017. The fund supports local authorities with the infrastructure impact of escalated housing developments.
If you’re hoping to buy a new build property, have a survey carried out by a Chartered Surveyor who will assess the build quality as well as the condition and structural elements of the property.
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