Govt looks to kickstart resi on rail land

Bek Seeley has been appointed as chair of Platform4, a development company combining the efforts of London & Continental Railways and Network Rail’s property team to unlock housing on sites such as Forth Goods Yard in Newcastle.

The government said that Platform4 will kickstart the delivery of up to 40,000 new homes over the coming decade – with an ambitious goal of 15,000 in the next five years – by transforming surplus brownfield land and “putting stations at the heart of communities”.

Seeley is a former managing director of development in Europe for Lendlease. Having founded Place Partners UK consultancy in 2023, she was appointed as chair of the Euston Housing Delivery Group by government last year.

London and Continental Railways Ltd and Network Rail’s property team have historically operated independently, each managing different aspects of surplus rail land. Platform4 is intended to bring these two bodies together in a unified structure better equipped to assess and dispose of surplus rail land and attract investment.

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The Department for Transport said that Platform4 is expected to generate an additional £227m by delivering at greater pace and scale, while enabling the starts of £1bn of new residential-led development. Platform4 is aiming to attract more than £350m in private sector investment.

The DfT said the company will tackle the challenges associated with building on railway land and will form partnerships with other public sector landowners to make the land more attractive to private developers.

Transport secretary Heidi Alexander said: “Our railways are more than just connections between places – they create economic opportunity and drive regeneration.

“It’s exciting to picture the thousands of families who will live in these future homes, the vibrant neighbourhoods springing up and the new businesses that will launch thanks to these developments.”

Place understands that much detail remains to be added to the overall goals of the new venture. What can be said for definite is that four specific sites have been namechecked by government in flagging up the new push around rail: Newcastle’s Forth Goods Yard and Mayfield close to Manchester Piccadilly among them, with sites in Cambridge and Nottingham also picked out.

Together, said the DfT, these sites will see more than 2,700 new homes delivered and brownfield land transformed.

• Newcastle Forth Goods Yard: opportunity for up to 600 new homes and unlocking additional new homes
• Manchester Mayfield: opportunity for 1,500 new homes
• Cambridge: a mixed-use development with 425 homes
• Nottingham: 200 new homes following 348 successfully delivered homes at The Barnum

Forth Goods Yard is owned by Network Rail, and sits within the wider Forth Yards development area, which could accommodate up to 2,500 homes.

Other elements include Quayside West, where Homes England is plotting around 1,100 homes. Another part is the Hines/Olympian Pottery Lane BTR development, which topped out in July.

Deputy prime minister and housing secretary Angela Rayner said: “We are facing a housing crisis which has led to a generation being locked out of homeownership, all while land sits empty and disused across the country.

“We said we’d do everything possible to get Britain building, and that’s why today we’re setting out how we’ll get more homes built across surplus railway network sites in line with our brownfield-first approach and our Plan for Change target of delivering 1.5m homes.

“Platform4 will champion putting stations at the heart of communities, unlocking growth, regeneration and opportunities in surrounding and connected areas.”

Profits generated from the property company will be reinvested into Britain’s railways, the government said.

Now chair of Platform4, Seeley said: “Platform4 will deliver on key government priorities, creating new homes and jobs and stimulating economic growth. Working alongside our partners and local authorities, we will create sustainable places that bring communities and customers together and leave a positive legacy for future generations.”

The launch of Platform4 was announced at Keepmoat’s Heaton Quarter development in Newcastle, a 143-home development on 10 acres of former Network Rail storage land. A £37m project, Heaton Quarter includes seven affordable rent homes and 41 with rent-to-buy options.

Neil Jefferson, chief executive of the Home Builders Federation, said: “The public sector can play a key part in providing the sites for the homes the country needs and we welcome moves to bring more of this land forward for development.”