The new developer will become operational later this year and ‘attract public and private investment’ to build homes on unused land in the UK’s rail estate, the government said on Thursday (27 March).
The property company will be ‘created between’ Network Rail, which owns and maintains the UK’s rail network, and London & Continental Railways (LCR), an existing state-owned development company.
The Treasury named four sites which are ‘in the pipeline for development’ by the new company. These are:
- Newcastle Forth Yards: a 40.5ha site by the Tyne, to the west of Newcastle’s city centre, where up to 5,000 homes could be built;
- Manchester Mayfield: where there is an opportunity for another 1,200 homes around the disused Mayfield station, according to the government. Early plans relating to a £1.4 billion regeneration on the site have been submitted by shedkm and Studio Egret West, with plans overseen by a public-private partnership which includes LCR.
- An unnamed site in Cambridge: the government says a mixed-use scheme with 425 new homes could be built here. The site is probably around the under-construction new station at Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
- An unnamed site in Nottingham: the government says 200 homes could be built ‘following 348 successfully delivered homes at The Barnum’. The Barnum is next to Nottingham Station, was designed by Franklin Ellis Architects and developed by Bloc Group and Network Rail.
The government has also said it is creating a new task force to help build homes on publicly-owned brownfield land.
‘Unused land will be identified, developed and released by a cross-government collaboration, which will focus on getting it back into productive use as quickly as possible by removing barriers,’ the government said.
‘This ambitious new partnership approach will explore new delivery models, establish collaborative agreements between the Ministry of Defence (MoD), Homes England, Network Rail and other government bodies, bring in the private sector – ultimately getting spades in the ground sooner.’
The government said the first site to be ‘unblocked’ will in Ripon, North Yorkshire. The site will be transferred from the MoD to Homes England later this year to ‘expedite the delivery of 1,300 homes’.
It added that a partnership between the MoD and Homes England will also aim to unlock 1,300 homes at Chetwynd Barracks in Nottinghamshire and deliver thousands of homes at Wyton airfield in Cambridgeshire.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: ‘For too long, surplus government-owned sites have gone underused, but they are a huge untapped resource that could create opportunities for the next generation of homeowners.
‘In contrast with the failed approach of the past, we are making the best use of public land to build the homes that families and our Armed Forces need, improving opportunities for homeownership and creating jobs across the country.’
