TfL announces completion of 350 homes opposite Blackhorse Road …
The housing development was delivered through TfL’s wholly-owned commercial property company, TTL Properties Ltd
By Marco Marcelline
Transport for London (TfL) has announced the completion of a 350 home and car-free housing development opposite Blackhorse Road Station.
Blackhorse View, which comprises of 350 three, two and one bedroom flats, is the first of TfL’s joint venture housing developments with Barratt London and London and Quadrant (L&Q) and sits on what used to be a 280-space TfL car park.
50% of the flats meet the Mayor of London’s definition of affordable, with 60% of those flats available through shared ownership and remaining 40% available at London Affordable Rent (rent at no more than 80% of local market rates including service charges).
The 1.8 acre site development includes the delivery of a new public cycle hub on Forest Road along with 650 cycle parking spaces for residents.
Blackhorse View features six blocks of flats that are arranged around two green spaces linked by a through walkway. Construction on the car-free development began in 2019, and its completion last week comes as TfL seeks to deliver a total of 20,000 new homes in London by 2032.
TfL is delivering the properties through its wholly-owned commercial property company, TTL Properties Ltd, which is partnered with Network Rail. TTL Properties is currently building more than 1,750 homes, having completed 250 so far, not including Blackhorse View. According to Network Rail[1], TTL Properties expects to start on eight more sites this financial year that should deliver 2,650 homes.
Network Rail and TfL are among the largest landowners in Greater London with more than 600 stations between them in addition to extensive retail, office and operational portfolios. Collectively, Network Rail and TfL own almost 14,000 acres of land across the capital.
TfL is currently in talks with businesses who are interested in Blackhorse View’s more than 17,500 square feet of flexible commercial floorspace. Tesco has already started trading in one of the available units this summer.
The first residents began moving in in summer 2021. TfL says that first time buyers have snapped up three-quarters of the 293 purchasable homes either through shared ownership, Help to Buy or private sale.
Money generated from the sales of property developed by TTL Properties is re-invested into the transport network which TfL says will help to minimise its reliance on fares income and support further development of new homes across the capital.
Welcoming the news of Blackhorse View’s completion, Grace Williams, Waltham Forest Council’s leader, said: “Waltham Forest is committed to working with developers to build more affordable housing and we’re proud to have worked closely in partnership with TfL and Barratt London at every stage of the process over the past few years to realise and deliver the potential of Blackhorse View.
“The project has created more than 160 affordable homes…and has also brought vital improvements to public spaces in the local area to benefit the local community such as new pedestrian and cycle links to Walthamstow Wetlands.”
Rachel Wood, Senior Property Development Manager at TfL, said: “We’re incredibly excited to announce the completion of our first joint venture housing development. Working with Barratt London and L&Q, as well as Waltham Forest Council, we are proud to have delivered 350 new homes – which the capital urgently needs – as well as improvements for the local community.
“This marks a significant milestone in our wider development programme, which will see us use our land to deliver thousands of new homes, while raising vital revenue that will reduce TfL’s reliance on fares income. We’re thrilled to be continuing our partnership with Barratt London, tackling the housing shortage together, both at Wembley Park Gardens – with work having started on more than 450 new homes – and Acton.”
Earlier this year[2], it was announced that TfL’s wholly owned commercial property company had appointed Barratt London as its joint venture partner for the delivery of its site by Bollo Lane in Acton as well as a range of other potential sites in west London, subject to contract completion.
TfL announced in October 2017 that it had selected Barratt London, working with L&Q, to be its first joint venture partner, working together to deliver the new homes opposite Blackhorse Road station.
Work on a second joint development between TfL and Barratt London, alongside Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing, is currently underway by Wembley Park Tube station.
References
- ^ Network Rail (www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk)
- ^ Earlier this year (www.constructionnews.co.uk)