GovWire

Administrative timetable

Request from Homes England

07 May 2024: The SAU has accepted a request for a report from Homes England concerning a proposed subsidy to Barking Riverside Limited subsidy. This request relates to a Subsidy of Particular Interest.

The SAU will prepare a report, which will provide an evaluation of the Homes Englands assessment of whether the subsidy complies with the subsidy control requirements (Assessment of Compliance). The SAU will complete its report within 30 working days.

Information about the subsidy provided by Homes England

Homes England is providing 30m of London Brownfield Infrastructure and Land grant funding to Barking Riverside Limited (BRL). Funding will be available against agreed infrastructure costs from June 2024 until March 2026.

Barking Riverside is a 443 acre brownfield site in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham (LBBD). The site is owned by BRL, a private company whose sole business is as Master Developer of the Barking Riverside site, preparing parcels of land (including remediation, diversion and removal of power infrastructure, masterplanning, earth works, provision of utilities and placemaking) which are sold to developers.

The site currently has outline planning permission for 10,800 homes of varying sizes and styles, including houses and apartments and 65,000sqm of commercial space. To date c. 3,500 homes have been delivered or are under construction, including 44% affordable.

BRL are seeking to uplift the existing planning consent from 10,800 homes to 20,000, providing significant additional housing capacity, including a target to deliver 50% affordable housing. This is consistent with the wider strategic aims and objectives of the London Plan and the emerging LBBD Local Plan. However, the project faces a viability gap created by worsened economic conditions and market failures relating to public good and externalities which are preventing the 20,000-home project from progressing.

Homes England considers that the subsidy in this case is necessary to resolve a market failure and unlock a policy objective (7,200 additional homes) and promote an equity rationale through the provision of affordable homes.

Information for third parties

If you wish to comment on matters relevant to the SAUs evaluation of the Assessment of Compliance concerning the proposed subsidy to Barking Riverside Limited, please send your comments before 5pm on the date stipulated in the timetable above. For guidance on representations relevant to the Assessment of Compliance, see the section on reporting period and transparency in the Operation of the subsidy control functions of the Subsidy Advice Unit.

Please send your submissions to us at SAU-BarkingRiverside2024@cma.gov.uk, copying the public authority: enquiries@homesengland.gov.uk.

Please also provide a contact address and explain in what capacity you are making the submission (for example, as an individual or a representative of a business or organisation).

Notes to third parties wishing to make a submission

The SAU will only take your submission into account if it can be shared with Homes England. The SAU will send a copy of your submission to Homes England together with its report. This is to allow the public authority to take account of the submission in its decision as to whether to modify the subsidy or its assessment. We therefore ask that you provide express consent for your full and unredacted submission to be shared. We also encourage you to share your submission directly with Homes England using the email address provided above.

The SAU may use the information you provide in its published report. Therefore, you should indicate in your submission whether any specified parts of it are commercially confidential. If the SAU wishes to refer in its published report to material identified as confidential, it will contact you in advance.

For further details on confidentiality of third party submissions, see identifying confidential information in the Operation of the subsidy control functions of the Subsidy Advice Unit.

Contacts

• SAU project team: SAU-BarkingRiverside2024@cma.gov.uk
• CMA press team: 020 3738 6460 or press@cma.gov.uk