New homes to be built on disused railway land as Labour tries to keep housing target on track

Up to 40,000 new homes will be built on surplus railway land in England over the next decade as Labour looks to get its housebuilding on track.

Transport secretary Heidi Alexander announced the plans on Wednesday (30 July), promising new homes for working people wanting to rent or become first-time buyers.

The government is setting up a new company called Platform4 to manage the developments on brownfield land, combining operations from London and Continental Railways Ltd and Network Rail’s property team. 

Targeting new homes on forgotten corners of Britain’s railway land, from disused goods yards and vacant industrial sites, will deliver £1 billion worth of new developments across the country, the government claimed.

The derelict Manchester Mayfield station is among the plots targeted for new homes alongside Newcastle Forth Goods Yards and projects in Cambridge and Nottingham. Ministers said these four projects will deliver a combined 2,700 new homes.

Earlier this year, Big Issue looked at the possibility of building new homes around – and above – railways as an option for the Labour government to make the most efforts to build 1.5 million homes while in power.

“Our railways are more than just connections between places – they create economic opportunity and drive regeneration,” said transport secretary Alexander.

“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.

“Platform4 will breathe new life into these spaces, delivering tens of thousands of new homes as part of our Plan for Change promise to build 1.5 million homes, while reviving communities around rail stations, supporting jobs and driving economic growth.”

Read more:

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• How Labour’s housebuilding target of 1.5 million new homes hinges on just six private companies
• Building 1.5 million homes will only ‘make a dent’ in housing crisis, warns Angela Rayner

The government argued Platform4 will address the problems of inefficiencies, duplicated efforts and missed opportunities for strategic development from previously separate companies.

Working together will generate an additional £227 million by delivering at greater pace and scale, ministers claimed.

Labour also said developments will also bring homes, green spaces, shops and hotels and create “thousands of jobs”.

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

Bek Seeley, the current appointed chair of London and Continental Railways Limited, has been appointed chair of Platform4. She will be tasked with attracting more than £350m in private sector investment to bolster building efforts.

Labour is facing a race against time to build the 1.5 million homes it promised to build by 2029.

Keir Starmer’s party has pledged planning reforms, the re-introduction of mandatory housebuilding targets and an investment of £39bn in building social and affordable housing over the next decade to address the housing crisis.

Angela Rayner, deputy prime minister and housing secretary, 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 1.5 million homes.”

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