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If you’ve tried renting a pad in London anytime these past few years, you’ll know housing is in high demand in the capital. And that’s particularly the case in hyper-trendy east London – from the likes of Hackney and Shoreditch to Time Out’s Coolest London Neighbourhood Leyton.
But soon there could be loads more places to live out east, as plans have been submitted for a ‘new town’ with up to 20,000 homes. The ‘town’ will boast two new schools, a hotel and a care home, plus parks and offices – and, better yet, it’ll all be on the banks of the Thames. The application has been submitted by master developer Barking Riverside LTD in association with the Mayor of London and housing association L&Q.
It should be noted that Barking Riverside as a place already exists. More than 6,000 Londoners currently live there in nearly 3,000 houses, while the area already has planning permission for another 4,000 homes.
The new proposals are for over 13,000 homes, 35 percent of which will be ‘affordable’ – and they’re backed by current Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.
Khan said in a statement: ‘Barking Riverside is a prime example of a new town in London, a pioneering partnership delivering thousands of new homes for Londoners.
‘It’s an inspiring model of how to fix our housing crisis, with new public transport connections, schools, green spaces and a town centre making this a blueprint for how the next generation of English new towns could work.
Barking and Dagenham Council will decide on the new plans later this year. Here are a few pics of what Barking Riverside’s new expansion could look like.
A whopping £400 million has been spent on Barking Riverside so far, which has been spent not just on homes and planning but a pier for Thames Clippers and an Overground stop, which opened in 2022 and you can read all about here. Before it became Barking Riverside, the 443-acre brownfield site used to be home to Barking Power Station.
If you’re keen to find out more about Barking Riverside, there’s more on the official project website here.
Changing London on Time Out
London is always changing, with new big-name projects being announced for the capital all the time. Recently on Time Out, the Eden Project revealed it is coming to London, Lewisham Shopping Centre is getting a massive open-air market and London could be getting 600 new skyscrapers.
Did you see that two Paddington statues have popped up in London as part of a massive UK-wide trail?
Plus: London’s massive ‘super sewer’ has officially started operating.
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