Transport for London got serious about developing its very large property portfolio ten years ago, when it began forming partnerships with private developers and housing associations in order to build homes, improve stations and create new amenities. It announced that it owned about 5,700 acres, making it one of London’s biggest landowners. The plan was to bring 50-odd sites to market and produce £3.4 billion in extra revenue for TfL over the coming decade.
How has it been going? A lot has happened since 2015, of course, including Brexit, the pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and all the other things that have made getting stuff built more difficult. However, Places for London – a name adopted by the company two years ago – has been making progress in various ways, from Covent Garden to Kidbrooke and from Edgware to South Kensington. A joint venture, Connected Living London, has been formed with Grainger. The TfL company has also been investing in construction skills and recently celebrated a big milestone.
On London and The London Society were very pleased to have Places for London director and chief executive Graeme Craig as the guest for our latest Talk About London podcast, co-hosted, as usual, by me and society chair Leanne Tritton.
There is also an audio-only version available through at the London Society website.
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