Disused station next to the DLR to be turned into housing

A plot of land running alongside the DLR in Bow has been earmarked to provide housing under a deal between TfL and the housing association, Optivo.

The site is of interest as it’s a patch of disused land that runs alongside the DLR tracks on the opposite side of the Bow Road that exists as a legacy of the former Bow Station that used to be there. The station closed in 1944, but the station building was only demolished in the 1980s as part of the construction of the DLR station opposite. Some of the site is now occupied by a car rental outlet, and the rest is still empty.

Location of Bow Station – overlay on Google Maps

Optivo says that it has been selected by TfL to deliver more than 150 new homes, including at least 50% affordable housing on the site. The strip of land being built on would once have been the railway station platform, so people will, probably unknowingly, be living inside a disused station.

Optivo says that it has been selected to bring the site forward using the Greater London Authority’s ‘London Development Panel 2’ (LDP2) and will start detailed design and consult with the local community before a planning application is submitted.

Jonathan Cornelius, Head of Property Development at TfL, said: “We’re excited to be working alongside Optivo at this prime location in Bow. Working together, we hope to provide new affordable homes as well as improvements for the local community, such as new commercial space to support the economy.”

Optivo is a housing association and a member of the G15 group, with more than 45,000 homes across London, the South East and the Midlands.