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Old Oak Common chair bemoans infrastructure funding delays
The chair of Europe’s largest regeneration scheme has raised concerns about the pace with which the government has released money from its Housing Infrastructure Fund, saying the Treasury has been silent about its bid for an additional £250m submitted nearly six months ago.
Speaking at global property festival MIPIM, Liz Peace, chair of the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation, said that without funding for additional infrastructure, there was a risk the Old Oak Common project would not provide the homes and jobs the capital needs.
The project aims to build more than 25,000 homes around the proposed Old Oak Common rail station in west London, which will serve Crossrail and HS2.
She said: “To build any regeneration project is not straightforward. We put in a bid for a slice of the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) last September because unsurprisingly, we need roads, bridges, power and all the other things that make a great community.
“So far, the Treasury has been somewhat silent on the subject of our HIF bid. If anyone has a chance to speak to anyone in the Treasury, please ask them on our behalf how it is going.”
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The £5bn HIF is aimed at providing funding for infrastructure schemes that will unlock housing in areas of need.
Last month, the government awarded £157m to build roads in Carlisle and Exeter aimed at unlocking more than 12,500 homes. The Greater London Authority secured £291m in November to expand the Docklands Light Railway to 18,000 new homes in east London.
A total of £886m was allocated to 133 local authority projects worth £10m or less in February last year.
Ms Peace, who was formerly CEO of the British Property Federation, also called on developers to think carefully about “meeting the needs of ordinary Londoners” with their development plans, to restore trust in the industry.
She said: “A lot of ordinary people don’t want development and they don’t want it because when they see the plans, they don’t think this development is for them and they don’t think it is a place where their children will be able to buy.
“We have to think carefully about whether what we provide is going to meet the needs of ordinary Londoners, as well as wealthy foreign investors or foreign buyers. I think that is the only way we can restore real trust in the industry.”
