Transport for London (TfL) says that it has completed a new block of flats that was built on the old car park opposite Blackhorse Road station in northeast London.
(c) Barratt London
The development, a joint development between TfL and Barratt London along with L&Q, provides 350 new homes, with half of them offered at affordable rates. The 350 homes have replaced a 280 space car park.
Sixty per cent of the affordable homes have been made available through shared ownership, while the other 40 per cent of homes are available at London Affordable Rent, the level of which is set by the Mayor of London.
The car-free development started construction in 2019 to a design by RMA Architects and spans across six buildings on the old car park site. The development has also delivered a new public cycle hub on Forest Road, close to the protected cycle route, along with 650 cycle parking spaces for residents and the planting of more than forty new trees.
There’s ground floor commercial space facing the main road, and a large high street supermarket chain has taken up one of the spaces.
The first residents began moving in the summer 2021, with the majority of the homes now having been sold. Around three-quarters of the homes sold – through shared ownership, Help to Buy and private sale – have been to first time buyers.
The development also generated income for TfL’s commercial property company, which can then be re-invested into the transport network.
(c) Barratt London
With work now complete on the new homes at Blackhorse View, TfL and Barratt London have now started on site on their second project together, adjacent to Wembley Park Tube station. This 1.6 acre development will deliver 454 new homes, including 40 per cent affordable housing, a retail unit, and new operational space for TfL. Construction is expected to take around four and a half years, with the first people moving into these new homes in 2024.
—
Updated 16th Aug 14:30 – corrected name of social housing provider.
They are building on all car parks in an effort to get people to ditch their cars and vat the same time telling people to buy electric cars to reduce pollution. Where do you park your shiny new electric car?
Catch 22
They’re telling people who need cars to use low emissions cars — not everyone needs cars.
Who needs a car, electric or otherwise when you live somewhere like that.
I know this location.
It is a complete dump.
The road is a heavily used commuter route.
You couldn’t pay me to live in one of those flats.
The site is on a car park and light retail units.
The only advantage of that flat site which is like a prison is it is opposite the tube.
That gets you to Central London in about 25 minutes.
But the area is desolate
Yeah, hard agree, trapped and desolate, what a prison, nothing in the area. Well I mean apart from multiple transport links, Walthamstow wetlands, Walthamstow high street, Lloyd park, Epping forest, blackhorse beer mile, Tottenham Hale. I mean total dystopian nightmare stuff, who’d want to live in a place like that. Ok granted Tottenham Hale was thrown in there at the end as a bit of a joke.
Are there any spaces for Car Club vehicles, for when you do really need a car?
yeah there are a few in this one and the development opposite.. i seem to recall there are also a dozen or so disabled spaces underneath it.
Meanwhile, the platforms at Blackhorse Rd on the “Goblin” line are still narrow, cramped, almost unsheltered & still bunrefurbished.
No money for that, obviously.
That’s why they’re building houses – to increase income to invest in the railways.
Why did they not get the property developer to fund the construction of step-free access facilities for the Victoria line at Blackhorse Road station? They could attach the requirement for step-free access at nearby stations as part of the planning permission. Property developers already make a lot of money per project, so it is only fair to ask them to give something back to the community.
The property developer is a TfL joint venture, so the profits from the sale of the homes will help fund the upgrades you want.
We looked at some of the shared ownership apartments in this development. To be honest, it’s not great. The buildings are too tight for the location and so dense so every apartment we looked at seemed to stare straight into someone elses apartment and, as was more of a concern for me vice versa. Less said about the ‘luxuary vinal’ Amtico flooring the better.
It’s good for the tube to central London doubtlessly, but otherwise its on a busy road in a nothingy area and you have to slog your shopping back from Walthamstow (where we did end up buying) or Tottenham Hale every time you need to go to a proper supermarket.
I hope I’m wrong, but I came away with the feeling that it could become the next decade’s Broadwater Farm.
Honestly this was a stroke of genius by TfL. 280 parking spaces transformed into 350 homes, while generating income to invest in transit. Hope we see much more of this in the future.