Berkeley and TfL land deal supports latest phase of 5,000-home Woolwich scheme

Transport for London’s property company have completed a land deal with Berkeley to return a site within the 5,000-home Royal Arsenal Riverside regeneration area to the housebuilding giant.

Berkeley originally provided the site to Crossrail and Places for London, TfL’s property company, in 2010 to deliver the Woolwich Elizabeth line station, completed in 2022.

The new PRP-designed 575-home development, which was approved earlier this year, will sit above the Woolwich Elizabeth line Station and will consist of four buildings arranged around a landscaped podium. Of the homes, 35% will be affordable through discounted market sale and shared ownership.

There will also be around 6,500 sq ft of commercial space, new public realm and landscaped amenity space.

Berkeley said the brownfield site has been impacted by “significant” regulatory and policy changes over the last six years. These include amendments to building regulations, second staircases and other design requirements, which led to delays, increased costs and the resubmission of the original planning application.

Rob Perrins, executive chair of Berkeley Group, said: “We are extremely grateful to Places for London, the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the GLA for working with us over many years to overcome a series of regulatory challenges. There is still some way to go, but we are very pleased to have reached this milestone, and were very fortunate to have the backing of a genuinely supportive and effective planning authority here in Greenwich.

“At Berkeley we’re very proud to be delivering 10% of all new private and affordable homes in London as we regenerate many of the city’s most challenging brownfield sites, including Royal Arsenal.”

Royal Arsenal Riverside has been in the works since 2000. So far, Berkeley and the local authority have turned a previously walled-off and contaminated munitions manufacturing site into a mixed-use neighbourhood.

Approximately 4,000 homes have been completed to date, with the wider development expected to deliver more than 5,000 in total.

A total of 23 listed buildings have been refurbished and repurposed by Berkeley during the programme.