Barking Riverside regeneration project to receive £500m investment

One of the UK’s largest regeneration projects is to receive a cash injection of £500m for transport links, parkland and other community facilities, after a section 106 agreement was struck.

The Barking Riverside regeneration will receive the money from the mayor of London and the London and Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q) over a 15-year period through the Barking Riverside Limited vehicle. 

Under the Section 106 agreement with Barking & Dagenham Council and Transport for London, the partnership will help fund a new London Overground station running to central London and build 10,800 homes - half of which will be affordable.

Commenting on the announcement, Khan said: “This is an incredibly exciting project for Barking & Dagenham, but also for the whole of London. As we tackle the biggest housing crisis of a generation, major developments like Barking Riverside will deliver thousands of the genuinely affordable new homes Londoners desperately need. As well as housing, our investment will create the new transport, education and health services needed to turn this into a thriving new community. London will be home to 10m people in the next decade — I’m working to plan for that growth and to provide genuinely affordable homes for Londoners. That will mean increasing density, building on small sites, and using my powers to deliver more affordable homes.”

What the money will go towards: 

• A new TfL Overground station connecting to central London in 22 minutes
• Land for seven schools including five primaries, one secondary, and one for special educational needs
• A new centre with 65,000 square metres of commercial, retail and leisure space, including a 2km riverside walkway, an ecology centre and new country park space
• A combined health care and leisure facility
• A cycling hub
• Two local retail and dining hubs

Andy Rowland, managing director of the east region at L&Q, said: “This agreement marks a vital step for Barking Riverside, ensuring we are able to deliver the necessary infrastructure to build a well-connected and thriving community which will benefit existing and future residents for years to come.” 

Barking Riverside will also become London’s first and only NHS Healthy New Town with the project set to be completed by 2034.

Matthew Carpen, project director for Barking Riverside Limited, said: “This is another significant landmark for Barking Riverside, and signals ‘lift-off’ for all future activity on site. It commits us to over £0.5bn of infrastructure investment over a 15-year build programme. This agreement demonstrates the dedication to our partnership with the local authority and TFL, to deliver the goals of the project – a new piece of City with improved connectivity and a multitude of opportunity for both existing and future residents.”