Investment of £50 million towards regeneration of London property estates
On 14 February 2024, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities announced a £50m investment for the capital city, marking a significant step towards addressing housing and homelessness in London. This investment is part of a £1bn investment through the government's Affordable Homes Programme.
The group, known as the Euston Housing Delivery Group, has launched a new government-owned company called Platform4. Chaired by Bek Seeley, who also chairs the Euston Housing Delivery Group, Platform4 aims to deliver up to 40,000 new homes over the next decade on surplus railway land, with a target of 15,000 homes in the first five years.
The key details of this plan include integration and efficiency, location focus, comprehensive regeneration, policy context, impact on homelessness and housing access, investment, and economic benefit.
Integration and efficiency: Platform4 merges the property arms of Network Rail and London & Continental Railways, which previously operated separately. This combination aims to speed up housing delivery by unlocking and regenerating disused railway sites, including goods yards and old sidings.
Location focus: Specific sites earmarked for development include Manchester Mayfield (1,500 homes), Newcastle Forth Goods Yard (600+ homes), Cambridge (425 homes with mixed-use development), and Nottingham (200 homes).
Comprehensive regeneration: The developments will go beyond housing to include green spaces, shops, hotels, and commercial uses to create sustainable new communities integrated with transport hubs and support long-term economic growth and jobs.
Policy context: Platform4 supports the government’s broader “Plan for Change” commitment to build 1.5 million homes nationwide. It follows a brownfield-first approach by focusing on transforming unused railway land instead of building on greenfield sites.
Impact on homelessness and housing access: By increasing the supply of affordable, quality homes near transport links, the plan aims to provide decent accommodation and improve access to homeownership and rental options, particularly benefitting first-time buyers and young people who have been locked out of the housing market.
Investment and economic benefit: The estimated regeneration program involves £1 billion of investment and is expected to generate around £227 million extra revenue through coordinated efforts. Profits from Platform4 will be reinvested into rail infrastructure, indirectly supporting community services and transportation.
Michael Gove, secretary of state for housing, stated that the investment is a major package to ensure the country gets the homes it needs, with London at the heart of the approach. The investment will be used to support the regeneration of old social housing estates and is available to existing estate regeneration schemes with local community support.
Andrea Ruckstuhl, CEO of Lendlease Europe, sees the Euston Housing Delivery Group as a positive step towards the delivery of new homes and the regeneration of the area. Lendlease looks forward to continued close collaboration with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities, the London Borough of Camden, the Department for Transport, and local partners and communities.
The group will consider how these housing opportunities can be delivered across Euston, working closely with the Department for Transport, the Euston Partnership, and the London Borough of Camden. Lendlease believes the area around Euston station has the potential to become one of Europe's leading centers for innovation and life sciences.
In summer 2022, 59% of people in temporary accommodation across England were in London. Cases of homelessness in London rose by 54% between 2013 and 2023, but no new information about the estimated number of people who are homeless in London was provided in this paragraph.
In August 2023, London Councils estimated that one in 50 people in London are homeless. The government is working closely with Camden and has committed an initial £4m to establish a Euston Housing Delivery Group. The group will identify the infrastructure, services, and green space required to unlock maximum housing delivery.
[1] Government press release
[2] Guardian article
[3] BBC News article
[4] London Councils press release
[5] Lendlease press release
