SUSTAINABILITY FEATURE |
47
Regeneration in partnership Peter Hawthorne, CEO at regeneration specialist LCR, explains why we should place railway stations at the heart of the solution to the UK’s housing crisis
T
he UK is facing a housing crisis. And with the government setting ever-more ambitious targets for the delivery of new homes, it’s more important than ever to think creatively about how to unlock land for development across the country.
Our railway estate offers huge, largely untapped potential for exciting regeneration and development projects. One only has to look to the success of King’s Cross to see what can be achieved when the public, private, rail and real estate sectors unite their skillsets. The regeneration scheme there created new employment, retail, education and leisure opportunities, as well as hundreds of new homes. These benefits can be achieved on any scale. The key ingredients are a long-term view, and a shared drive between all delivery partners to achieve the best possible results, both for the end users of any new development, and for rail passengers.
This ethos sits at the heart of the collaboration between sustainable regeneration expert LCR and Network Rail. The two organisations formed a partnership in 2018, with the goal of identifying opportunities to free up underutilised land for residential development at and around stations across the rail network.
Why railway stations? Railway stations are invariably located in and around town centres. Rebuilding and regenerating the land that surrounds them can act as catalyst for wider transformation in the community, delivering the economic growth and resilience that will help the UK recovery from Covid-19. We know that the regeneration of transport-linked land is a big driver of economic and social benefits. Boasting unrivalled connectivity, development of these sites naturally provides residents with excellent access to key amenities and transport links. The challenge is that they are notoriously
complex to develop and often have piecemeal ownership structures, blending stakeholders from multiple sectors. But a holistic vision, and partnerships that bring together all of the expertise required to unlock development, can transform these underutilised brownfield sites into top quality community assets. The collaboration in practice The collaboration between LCR and Network Rail unites the former’s decades of experience in delivering sustainable regeneration around transport hubs, with the latter’s intricate knowledge of, and access to, the UK’s rail network. With an initial focus on the 1,900 stations across England, to-date, the partners have conducted an in-depth review of several hundred stations to identify opportunities for development. The review process considers everything from the potential number of units that can be delivered, sale and cost rates, and overall viability, to the proportion of surrounding land in public sector ownership and the potential for collaboration with local authority partners. From this initial sift, there are around 40 live opportunities in early planning stages, with a combined potential to deliver more than 5,000 homes, improved station facilities such as cycle hubs, and over £2 billion GDV. Recently, Network Rail and LCR appointed real estate specialist Savills to complete the review of the remaining 650 stations in England, using its UK-wide office network and knowledge of regional regeneration priorities to identify opportunities that meet the housing needs of local authorities. The ambition of the partnership is to unlock the potential for tens of thousands of new homes over the next decade. And its structure recognises that enabling highquality development with public value at its heart is only possible through collaboration. The unique make-up of transport-linked land, and the complex development requirements that come with it, require pooling of skills from across the public, private, rail and real estate sectors to help sites to reach their full potential. But through investing for the long-term, the UK’s railway stations can play a key role in providing community-centric, connected residential developments, and meeting the government’s ambitious housing targets. Peter Hawthorne is CEO at regeneration specialist LCR Rail Professional
