LREF 2016: A Crossrail 2 station on the King’s Road, SW3, would create 3,500 new homes with a gross development value of around £6bn, Kensington & Chelsea’s planning leader has said.
Graham Stallwood, the borough’s executive director for planning, said the council estimated it would help deliver far more new homes than the 1,000-home target put forward by Transport for London.
Despite a strong local protest against the scheme, Kensington & Chelsea was clear about Crossrail 2’s ability to bring value to the area, he said at a panel held in association with Deloitte Real Estate.
The increase in stamp duty income would be £300m for existing stock in Chelsea alone, he said, with an extra £400m with 1,000 new homes.
“The highest proportion of our workers work in the City and Canary Wharf and they spend 45 minutes getting there,” he said. “They will spend 20 minutes getting there with Crossrail 2. It is of huge value for us and very productive for residents.”
However, Clive Pane, partner at Deloitte Real Estates, said a key issue for the project was ensuring Crossrail 2 had enough powers to ensure housing was built around the stations.
“Unless Crossrail 2 is given the powers to intervene in the market, then step-change for housing delivery may not actually be delivered,” he said.
“The private sector left to itself won’t deliver them [the 200,000-home target for Crossrail 2] – or maybe it will but only over a long period of time.
Crossrail 2’s managing director Michele Dix said a combination of intervention and policy instruments would be needed to ensure housing was built. “We have always said those who benefit from the scheme should help pay for the scheme,” she said. For developers, the tax would come in the form of community infrastructure levy payments, she added.
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