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Spring Budget 2024: £242m announced for 8,000 homes in Canary Wharf and Barking
The chancellor has announced £242m in funding for projects in east London, which he said would unlock “nearly 8,000 houses”.
In his Spring Budget earlier today, Jeremy Hunt said he would “allocate £242m of investments in Barking Riverside and Canary Wharf, which together will build nearly 8,000 houses as well as transforming Canary Wharf into a new hub for life science companies”.
The Budget document released alongside Mr Hunt’s address to parliament explained how the funding would be split.
It earmarked £124m in cash to help unlock up to 7,200 homes in Barking and a new life sciences hub.
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Meanwhile, £118m of funding would accelerate the delivery of up to 750 homes in Canary Wharf alongside a life sciences hub, commercial space and a healthcare facility.
The budget document also notes that the government will establish a Euston Delivery Group with £4m to support plans to deliver up to 10,000 new homes.
Both Barking and Canary Wharf are already home to significant housebuilding and regeneration projects. Barking Riverside contains a 440-acre brownfield site next to the River Thames, where 10,800 homes are planned in total.
Housing association L&Q became the master developer on the mega-scheme in 2016, after striking a joint venture deal with the Greater London Authority.
The G15 landlord took over development from Bellway, the house builder that had owned the former Barking Power Station site since 1994. It is one of Europe’s largest mixed-use regeneration schemes.
Canary Wharf, the UK’s financial centre alongside the City of London, has not received levelling-up funding before, but the district has struggled in the aftermath of the pandemic. Offices have been sold at a discount and businesses have downsized their workspaces.
Elsewhere, it was confirmed that the previously announced future development corporation in Cambridge will receive a long-term funding settlement at the next spending review, to start delivery of the government’s plan to build new homes and lab space. Last summer ministers said they wanted to build 250,000 homes in Cambridge and make it into "Europe’s Silicon Valley", although it emerged councils had not been consulted on the plan.
Alongside the new funding, the government said it would publish its “vision for transforming Leeds” to unlock 20,000 new homes.
Also in the Budget, the chancellor announced £20m in funding for community-led housing schemes, and an extension to the government’s Household Support Fund.
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