The former site of the now demolished Earls Court Exhibition Centres will be transformed into a new £6bn West London neighbourhood of 4,000 homes set within 20 acres of new public open and green space.

Outline plans also provide for 2.5m sq ft of workspace and three new anchor cultural venues.

Developer Delancy, which bought the site four years ago, also submitted detailed plans for phase one due to start construction in 2026.

Warwick Square site opposite the Earls Court Tube station

This will include the first commercial spaces, around 1,500 new homes in a mixed of for rent, market sale , students and later living homes set around Table Park at the heart of the site.

The first phase will include a landmark 45-storey residential building to put Earls Court on London’s skyline.

Landmark residential buildings

Delancey is bringing forward the 40-acre transformation in a development partnership with Dutch pension fund manager APG and Transport for London’s property company.

Studio Egret West and Hawkins Brown are the masterplan architects for Earls Court, alongside nature-based design studio SLA (Stig Lennart Andersson) as landscape architects. They are working alongside Sheppard Robson, Serie Architects and dRMM, ACME, Haworth Tom.

Rob Heasman, chief executive of ECDC, said: “We understand our responsibility to deliver much-needed homes and employment opportunities for London, and nearly half the site will be devoted to green and open public space.”

Table Park at the heart of Earls Court proposals

Jamie Ritblat, Founder and Chairman of Delancey, said: “Our focus has been on delivering value— environmentally, emotionally, and economically—while keeping the future in mind. Though we can’t predict the 22nd century, we have aimed to build with longevity, crafting streets and places that will become part of London’s fabric.

“It is unique for a development of this scale and importance to put spaces first, and buildings second. Despite economic challenges, we are proud of the result and grateful for the support of our partners. We believe this project is a beacon of hope for the capital’s future as a leading global city.”

The ambitious scheme is due to be completed in 2041

Housing completions fell by nearly a fitfh to 14,000 in the year to June with Barratt warning that this year’s level of completions will be even lower at 13,000 to 13,500.

Along with a 4% fall in sale prices revenue fell 22% to £4.2bn.

During the year, Barratt adjusted site-based construction activity to lower reservations, with an average of 257 equivalent homes constructed each week, 20% below the 322 average weekly equivalent in the prior year.

Headcount at the business has fallen by 12% since the recruitment freeze introduced in September 2022.

The expected cost of delivering essential building safety work on finished developments also rose again as the firm continued to take stock of its assets.

Around half of Barratt’s portfolio under review has been assessed under the Fire Risk Assessment of External Walls with 26 more buildings found to need remedial works.

Barratt said it was pressing ahead with remedial work as quickly as possible. Of the 262 buildings now under review at year end, 137 were in progress at tender, site mobilisation or remediation stage.

The additional works raised provisions for fire safety and external wall systems by £126m to a total £628m.

Separate problems with concrete frame design at a further two developments in addition to its large Citiscape flats scheme also increased provisions for reinforced concrete frames by £56m to £102m.

David Thomas, chief executive of Barratt, said: “Building safety considerations are paramount in prioritising and scheduling remediation works. Our dedicated Building Safety Unit manages our ongoing building safety remediation programme, which we expect to deliver over the next five years.”

On the wider group performance over the year, he said: “We are pleased to have delivered total home completions at the upper end of our expectations for the year, despite the challenging backdrop.

“Although the macro backdrop remains challenging, particularly demand sensitivity to current mortgage pricing and a lack of higher loan to value mortgage availability we have a strong balance sheet with significant net cash and a solid forward sales position, which allows us to enter FY25 with confidence.”

“Given the subdued but more stable market backdrop and the growing number of land opportunities available we expect to increase our land approvals significantly in FY25 whilst maintaining our rigorous land investment requirements.”

The proposals will deliver 350 new homes across four blocks built on the former car park of the north London station.

Transport for London is required to seek the consent of the Secretary of State for the disposal of land used for its operational purposes. TfL first requested permission in 2021 to sell the land currently used for car parking by the station, but this was denied by the then Secretary of State.

Work will now progress to ensure that the development can begin in the coming years, including updating the designs in response to the latest fire safety requirements and liaising with the local council planning authority on any changes needed.

Places for London, TfL’s property company, is working on multiple projects across London and the proposals at Cockfosters will contribute towards its target of starting construction of 20,000 homes, including 50 per cent affordable housing, by 2031.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: “After the previous government refused to approve the plans, I’m delighted that the new government has given us the green light to progress exciting plans for new homes at Cockfosters station.

“Building homes right next to public transport connections is a key part of our plans to deliver the high-quality homes Londoners need.”

Graeme Craig, Director and Chief Executive of Places for London, said: “We are delighted that we are now able to make progress with our plans at Cockfosters now that we have the green light to release the land. We look forward to working across the capital with the Government and the Mayor as we progress the plans to deliver the homes that London urgently needs.”