Be First chooses McLaren for second phase of Barking homes job

Be First, Barking and Dagenham council’s development company, has chosen McLaren to build 169 affordable and shared ownership homes on a former local authority car park at Linton Road.

The contractor is to carry out the second phase of a residential scheme that is part of the local council’s plans to transform Barking town centre.

Financial detals of the development, which has been designed by Carey Jones Chapman Tolcher, were not disclosed.

Pat Hayes, managing director of Be First, said: “The contract forms a vital part of our plans to build affordable homes and rejuvenate a neglected part of Barking town centre.”

The Linton Road development is one half of a two-part scheme that includes a separate contract to demolish Crown House, a 1960s office block, and replace it with a 29-storey apartment block.

The Crown House contract has already been awarded to McLaren.

The planning application for both parts of the development was approved last month and is currently being considered by London mayor Sadiq Khan. 

Work is expected to begin early next year, with an expected completion date of 2022.

Be First’s ongoing redevelopment of the centre of Barking has been criticised by the GMB over what the union claimed was the low level of affordable homes being delivered.

The union claimed earlier this month that only 16% of 9,700 homes due to be built by Be First in the next four years would be social or affordable housing.

A spokesman for the council rejected the GMB’s calculations. “The business plan clearly states that over 70% of the total homes Be First expects to build directly will be affordable – that’s at least 1,600 out of 2,200.”