Earls Court estates saved from demolition as ownership handed back to council
Two estates which are part of the Earls Court regeneration site no longer face demolition after the council struck a deal with the new developer to return them to public ownership.
The deal, agreed between Hammersmith & Fulham Council and a partnership between developer Delancey and Dutch pension fund APG, marks an end to the ongoing row over the Gibbs Green and West Kensington estates, which have been threatened with demolition for over a decade.
It comes after Capital & Counties (Capco), which gained planning permission to develop the huge west London site in 2012, announced on Friday it had sold its interests in the Earls Court regeneration project to investors APG and Delancey for £425m.
Following the completion of the deal between Capco and Delancey, the Labour-controlled council used the money it originally received from Capco, which had been kept in a ringfenced fund, to buy back the estates.
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The estates, which formed part of the wider Earls Court regeneration scheme, were originally sold by the council for £150m in 2012, when it was controlled by the Conservatives.
Capco has been heavily criticised for its progress over the regeneration project, which was valued at £1bn as recently as December 2017, and is one of the most controversial developments in London in recent years.
Most recently, London mayor Sadiq Khan said the council should consider issuing a compulsory purchase order on the estates, which comprise of 760 homes, if Capco did not “sell its interests to a party capable of developing the sites”.
Earlier this year, former housing minister Kit Malthouse rejected a residents’ group bid to have ownership of the estates transferred to them.
Stephen Cowan, leader of Hammersmith & Fulham Council, said: “We think this is a great victory for the residents, a great victory for the Labour administration.
“This was a David and Goliath fight and in this case David won.”
