South London may see “tens of thousands” of new homes being built, as the Government has announced plans to transform a number of areas to provide housing around the River Thames.
The plan comes as part of a vision called “Docklands 2.0”, modelled after the transformation of the London Docklands seen by Margaret Thatcher and Michael Heseltine.
Other areas benefiting from the scheme include Beckton and Silvertown in Newham.
Housing Secretary Michael Gove said in a speech on July 24: “Our ambition in London is a Docklands 2.0 – an eastward extension along the Thames of the original Heseltine vision.
“Taking in the regeneration of Charlton Riverside and Thamesmead in the south, and the area around Beckton and Silvertown to the north, tens of thousands of new homes can be created.
“Beautiful, well-connected homes and new landscaped parkland are integral to our vision – all sympathetic to London’s best traditions.”
The housing secretary said the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) would be working alongside private developers to transform areas around the Thames, as well as finding better transport links from east to west in the city.
The news comes alongside the DLUHC’s plan to provide a long-term plan for housing across 20 places in England.
Mr Gove said in his speech that only 40 per cent of people living in British cities can get into the city centres within 30 minutes by public transport.
He also criticised Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, claiming London had only seen as few as 30,000 new homes a year. He said the London Plan previously identified capacity for approximately 52,000 new homes annually in the capital.
A Mayor of London spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “The housing figures set out in the London Plan are reliant on sufficient government investment being made in infrastructure, particularly transport.
“It is therefore essential that ministers work with City Hall to deliver a joined up funding approach in order to deliver a better, fairer London for everyone.”
Regarding housing opportunities along the Thames, a Peabody spokesperson told the LDRS that the company planned on building up to 2,800 homes in South Thamesmead.
They added that Thamesmead Waterfront had the potential to deliver up to 15,000 more homes and thousands of jobs.
The housing association said in their latest report that they owned 65 per cent of the land in Thamesmead, and over 600 homes had been built in the area as a result of the wider plan.
Transport for London also revealed last month that a business case had been sent to the Government on plans to extend the DLR from Gallions Reach to Beckton Riverside and Thamesmead.
The scheme would also reportedly allow for up to 30,000 new homes to be built across Greenwich and Newham.
Matthew Yates, TfL’s Head of Projects, Consents & Urban Design, told the LDRS that the transport authority welcomed the Government recorgnising the potential for housing beside the Thames, but that vital infrastructure was “crucial” for such plans.
They said the DLR extension would also potentially provide a new bus service for the Woolwich, Plumstead, Thamesmead and Abbey Wood areas.
Mr Yates said: “The DLR extension to Thamesmead is currently unfunded, but a full Strategic Outline Case for the project was submitted to the Government earlier this year with a request for a £6million funding contribution to continue further development of the scheme.
“Subject to capital funding, construction could commence as early as 2028 with services opening to customers in the early 2030s.”
Charlton Riverside has been earmarked by Greenwich Council for a series of low rise buildings containing 7,500 new homes, 35pc of which would be affordable.
However, the plans are yet to be formally picked up by a developer. Greenwich Council said on their website that the area has “tremendous potential” to become a new town centre in the borough, with an estimated 5600 jobs currently in the area and the potential for an additional 4000 if the plans were to go ahead.
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London told the LDRS: “The Mayor welcomes the government finally appearing to take an active interest in building the homes London and the country so desperately need.
“Further funding and support is to be welcomed but only if it is genuinely new money that can be used to target the areas of greatest local need.”
They added: “It is little surprise that ministers are so keen to follow London’s lead on homebuilding after the Mayor delivered record numbers of affordable homes over the last six years including starting more council homes than at any time since the 1970s.”
Labour Councillor Anthony Okereke, leader of Greenwich Council, told the LDRS: “We are pleased that the Government recognises the potential of Charlton Riverside and Thamesmead for new homes and employment. Thamesmead and Abbey Wood alone could provide around 15,000 new homes and 8,000 new jobs.
“We are currently working with Homes England and the Greater London Authority to bring forward many more new homes in our borough but to do this we need Government funding and not interference in our own local planning powers – that is currently being threatened.”
The council leader added that improved transport was needed in the area, with the authority calling on the Government to support the DLR extension to Beckton Riverside and Thamesmead.
He also urged the Government to maintain house building targets in the capital.
A Peabody spokesperson told the LDRS: “We’re pleased the government has big ambitions for Thamesmead.
“It’s perfectly placed to relieve the growing housing pressures on London’s outer suburbs. And there’s the opportunity for the town to play a major role in boosting the national economy by connecting affordable housing and relatively low-cost market housing to the job hotspots of the docklands and central London.
“But an extension of the DLR will be critical to unlock the delivery of these waterfront homes, plus 10,000 others north of the river, and realise the massive potential Thamesmead has to offer.
“The SE28 postcode is the only one in London without a rail or tube station and it’s currently a two-mile walk to the nearest.
“So we’re working with TfL, the GLA, Homes England, the Royal Borough of Greenwich, London Borough of Bexley and other stakeholders to progress proposals for the DLR’s extension.”
