Think tank calls for mayors to be handed control of Network Rail land to deliver 1.2m homes
Centre for Cities has proposed a range of interventions aimed at bringing English cities in line with French and Japanese counterparts when it comes to residential density around train stations.
According to research by Centre for Cities, Britain’s 12 largest cities have 1.2m fewer homes around their train stations than they should compared with other global cities.
In some cities, like Sheffield and Liverpool, Centre for Cities found that density was actually lower around train stations that further away.
In London there is an opportunity for more than 500,000 additional homes near stations and in Manchester there is scope for around 134,000, Centre for Cities said.
The study also shows that Northern cities Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, and Leeds would have 286,000 more homes if the areas around existing inner-city train, tram, and metro stations were as dense as in the typical large French or Japanese city.
“Solving the density gap around urban stations would reduce Britain’s housing shortage by around 25%,” the think tank said.
Since coming to power, Labour has sought to address the sparsity of homes around transport hubs, setting the building of more homes around train stations as one of its top priorities when it comes to housebuilding.
The think tank has made several recommendations that it believes should be included in the forthcoming devolution White Paper that will speed up the delivery of homes round stations.
They are:
- Create a fast track to speedily transfer land around train stations from Network Rail to mayoral city regions – mayors are then financially incentivised to develop the sites
- Use Mayoral Development Corporations to push forward regeneration around train stations
- Use Mayoral Development Orders to slash delays caused by planning permission holdups – guaranteeing development that complies with rules
As a significant owner of land around train stations in the UK, Network Rail is looked to as the key to unlocking more homes around stations – last year, it set up Platform4 as its development arm to speed up the process.
However, Centre for Cities thinks schemes are not coming forward quickly enough.
Anthony Breach, director of policy and research at Centre for Cities, said: “Building a lot of homes around existing stations is one of the most effective ways to boost city economies. In a low growth economy like Britain, it is one of the most glaringly obvious problems to fix.
“Going big on homes around stations will make a significant dent in the housing shortage. It’s worth around a million homes in Britain. It makes public transport far more efficient and cuts commuting times. It expands the labour market which is good for productivity. It regenerates areas that residents have seen fall into disrepair.”
He added: “Fixing this uniquely British problem will deliver significant returns. But the Government must also be clear eyed that without speedy planning reforms and rail devolution – good intentions will get stuck in the swamp of delay, red tape and inter-agency bureaucracy.”
Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, is supportive of Centre for Cities’ recommendations.
“We’re already leading the country on station devolution in the Liverpool City Region – and showing what can be achieved when transport, housing and regeneration are planned together,” he said.
“We’ve made good progress, with 36,000 homes built since I was elected and have a pipeline to build a further 64,000 new homes across 300 sites, but this report shows there is much more we could be doing around our rail network.
“We want to build on what we’ve started. Giving us greater control over stations and the land around them would open up more sites for development and help us build the homes our residents need, where the transport links already exist.”
