A 29-hectare site in Beam Park, bisected by the Beam River, is one of the largest areas of land earmarked for new development currently owned by the Mayor of London and the last major site released for development. It is thought that the area could host close to 2000 new homes with the potential for up to 5,000 in associated nearby developments. In concert with a brand new rail station, Beam Park is set to become a highly-connected residential hub for the fast-growing east London region.
Beam Park rail station will provide a rapid 20-minute link into Fenchurch Street in the heart of the City, giving residents a quick trip into work and also encouraging businesses to move into the area. The station is fully funded and will be built in partnership with Network Rail, Transport for London and C2C Rail, and has been awarded £9 million from TfL’s Growth Fund. The Fund is designed to provide targeted investment in transport improvements to help unlock regeneration areas across the Capital, in instances where funding is difficult to secure from other sources.
The Mayor is now asking members of his London Development Panel to provide him with proposals on how to best develop the site into a new residential area and vibrant neighbourhood with close to 2000 high-quality mixed homes. Thirty-five per cent of the development is expected to deliver affordable housing, through a mix of tenures.
The new station will support the Mayor’s wider aspirations to improve the employment opportunities in the Rainham area. His team will work with development partners to provide a wide range of industrial premises which are expected to bring new jobs to the area. Beam Park sits within the London Riverside Opportunity Area, which aims for the creation of 26,500 new homes and up to 16,000 jobs across the boroughs of Barking and Dagenham and Havering.
The development will help to achieve the Mayor’s London Plan target of building nearly half a million homes over the next ten years. To achieve these ambitious goals the Mayor will designate up to 20 Housing Zones across London to speed up development, which will deliver 50,000 new homes and over 100,000 associated jobs in the next ten years. In May 2015 the first allocations of the Mayor’s £200 million Housing Bank were announced, which will provide low-cost loans to enable homes to be brought forward faster than would otherwise be the case. The Mayor is also on track to see 100,000 affordable homes built over his two terms, with 94,000 completed already, and more affordable homes completed last year than any since 1981.
