Barnet Council seeks partner for £145m Grahame Park Estate regeneration

Barnet Council is seeking a joint venture partner for regeneration of the north-eastern part of the Grahame Park Estate in Colindale, north London worth £145m. 

The project involves the demolition of an existing estate of 290 homes and the construction on the site of 505 homes. 

The Grahame Park Estate was built in the 1960s and 1970s and a first phase Notting Hill Genesis redevelopment on the site, containing 685 homes, has already been built. 

Work is ongoing on a 2,088-home “master plan” for the southern part of the site which was greenlit by planners in 2020.

For the north eastern regeneration project, Barnet Homes, the local authority’s housing arm, is seeking a private sector residential developer for a 50/50 joint venture. 

The aim is to bring the regeneration forward to save an estimated £650,000 in maintenance on the existing part of the estate.

The mixed tenure scheme will deliver 50:50 affordable housing including social rent. It will include commercial and community buildings as well as landscaping and play areas. 

Existing residents will have priority for the replacement of social rent homes.  

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“The partner will work collaboratively across all elements of design, planning and construction to deliver high quality, private sale and affordable residential development, a new community centre and financial returns,” according to the procurement documents.  

Once selected, the partner will work with Barnet on pre-construction and construction of the first phase, with the opportunity of a second phase of development estimated at £125m.

Barnet says it might also offer further partnership opportunities in the borough, including the regeneration of Silk House and Shoelands Court estates. 

The project will use a £22.4m Greater London Authority grant.

Last November, when plans for the 505-home redevelopment were passed by the council, Cllr Ross Houston, Barnet’s housing and gowth committee chair, said: “The residents of Grahame Park have been asking for this development to be done for a long time and so we’re very pleased to be able to bring this forward.

“Not only are we maintaining our pledge to work towards well-built affordable rental housing, but this work will also lead to a cost saving of over six hundred thousand pounds.

“We care about our people in Barnet. We care how they live and how their homes are built so we can also make great spaces while ensuring money saved goes back to residents and not to developers.”