MD3447 Stratford Waterfront development

1.1.    Mayoral Decision (MD) 2396 (published on 27 November 2018) approved receipt of £486m of funding from the government. This was to help unlock and accelerate housing delivery in London through land assembly; infrastructure investment; and the provision of gap funding. This funding, and the funding approved under MD2207, are together referred to as the Homes for Londoners Land Fund.

1.2.    MD2396 delegated authority to the Executive Director of Housing and Land to approve, via a Director Decision form, Land Fund investments. The Building More Homes delivery plan (approved under MD3378) acknowledges this standing delegation. However, in accordance with the Mayoral Decision-Making in the GLA document, where capital grants are to be paid to functional bodies of the GLA (including the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC)), under section 120 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (the GLA Act), the decision to award such grants must normally be taken by the Mayor, when the value is over £250,000.

1.3.    The GLA proposes to provide up to £7.5m of capital grant funding to the LLDC under the Homes for Londoners Land Fund. The LLDC intends to use the funding to facilitate enabling infrastructure works at the Stratford Waterfront (SWFT) site in Newham. These works include: 

•    design
•    utilities diversions
•    removals and connections (such as gas, water, communications, power, and a district heating network)
•    site remediation and preparation work (including demolition). 

1.4.    The investment of £7.5m will help unlock the delivery of 630 residential homes, including affordable homes. This is a strategic housing and development objective under the Homes for Londoners Land Fund programme.

1.5.    The GLA has established a Land Fund Investment Strategy, as approved under MD2615, which sets the objectives and parameters of the Homes for Londoners Land Fund. The SWFT investment meets the objectives in the Investment Strategy by funding the costs of infrastructure and enabling works. This means the current planned and permissioned scheme can be developed, where it would be unviable without additional funding. This is supported by independent consultancy advice, which confirms that the project would not be viable without £7.5m of grant funding. In accordance with the Treasury Green Book appraisal methodology, and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) requirement of the Homes for Londoners Land Fund programme, the project must achieve a benefit-cost ratio (BCR) of at least 1.5. The BCR helps summarise the relationship between a project’s costs and benefits by expressing the ratio as a decimal. If the ratio is greater than 1, the benefits outweigh the costs; this is the case for SWFT project.  

1.6.    SWFT is expected to deliver 700 homes, of which 630 can be attributed to this proposed investment from the Homes for Londoners Land Fund. SWFT is interlinked with Bridgewater Triangle (BWT) and Bridgewater Infrastructure (BWI); the three sites depend on each other for their successful delivery. Together, they will deliver around 1,300 homes, retail space, infrastructure and community facilities. 

1.7.    The LLDC is using a joint venture approach to deliver the BWT, BWI and SWFT sites. It has established a joint venture vehicle between its wholly owned subsidiary, Stratford East London Developments Limited, and Ballymore Stratford East (2) Limited (Ballymore). This joint venture is called Stratford East London Partners LLP (the JV), and is a 50 per cent partnership of the LLDC and Ballymore. The JV was approved under MD2428. Delivery of the enabling infrastructure works at the SWFT site will therefore be undertaken by the JV, or a site-specific subsidiary vehicle of the JV. It is expected that any Land Fund grant used for the same would flow down to the JV under legally binding arrangements, which the LLDC would put in place to ensure that its commitments to the GLA, in respect of the Land Fund grant agreement, are backed off by the JV. 

1.8.    Provision, by the LLDC, of financial assistance such as grants requires the consent of the Mayor under section 213 of the Localism Act 2011 (the Localism Act). Consent is also required under paragraph 3.2 of the LLDC Governance Direction (updated 2019). This is because the grant value exceeds the delegation level for financial assistance by grant, provided for by the LLDC General Financial Assistance (Grant) Consent 2014. 

1.9.    The SWFT forecasted milestones are detailed below:

1.10.    As shown in the table above, enabling infrastructure works are expected to be delivered in 2026. It is anticipated that the 700 homes will start in late 2026, and complete by August 2030.

BWT site and Homes England (HE) Brownfield, Infrastructure and Land (BIL) Funding

1.11.    SWFT and BWT are interlinked, by way of a planning permission for a package of infrastructure works that enable a residential scheme on the BWT site to come forward. These BWI works include: 

•    the replacement and realignment of the E48 bridge
•    the reinstatement of the 8C towpath to the western bank of the Waterworks River
•    associated landscaping
•    public realm works
•    replacement river-wall works 
•    ground and enabling works. 

1.12.    A planning condition requires the delivery of the towpath works prior to occupation of BWT.

1.13.    The BWT planning permission is bound by the provisions of the ‘portfolio approach’ to affordable housing delivery across three public sector sites, agreed as part of the SWFT planning permission granted in July 2019. This identifies BWT as forming part of the Pudding Mill Lane (PML) site, and requires 50 per cent affordable housing (by habitable room) to be provided across the portfolio sites:

•    Rick Roberts Way: 75 per cent
•    SWFT: 35 per cent
•    BWT: 50 per cent, including at least 45 per cent to be delivered across PML. 

1.14.    Under the planning conditions, occupation of over 85 per cent of the market units at SWFT is prohibited, until the first phase of BWT has been substantially implemented. Substantial implementation is based on construction to ground/first-floor slab level of Phase 1. Phase 1 must comprise at least 150 homes, with at least 50 per cent affordable housing – of this, 60 per cent would be low-cost rented housing, and 40 per cent would be intermediate housing.

1.15.    The BWT site cannot start until the BWI works, described in paragraph 1.11, are complete. Therefore, without the delivery of the BWI works to enable the residential development on BWT, delivery of the 700 homes at SWFT would also be at risk. 

1.16.    The BWI works started in September 2024 and are due to complete in December 2025. As of October 2025, the BWT project is undergoing design, and is expected to start construction in January 2028.

1.17.    The BWT site has received approval of £20.5m through the London BIL Fund, which is administered by HE. HE is providing this BIL funding to aid bridge replacement and towpath improvements. Given that SWFT depends on the BWT and BWI works, it has been agreed that, of the 700 homes at SWFT, 70 will be claimed by the HE London BIL programme; and 630 will be claimed by the GLA via the proposed investment from the Homes for Londoners Land Fund programme.
 

2.1.    The main objectives of the SWFT development are:

 
•    to deliver an outstanding new residential development at SWFT, including a level of affordable housing that is consistent with the Mayor’s policies 
•    to achieve the Homes for Londoners Land Fund objectives of unlocking delivery of homes in London. 

2.2.    The development – through a 50/50 public (LLDC)/private (Ballymore) partnership is expected to:

•    unlock 700 homes (35 per cent affordable by habitable room)
•    reopen key connectivity routes including a riverside pedestrian and cycle access
•    complete the public realm linked to East London’s new cultural quarter (East Bank) in Stratford. 

2.3.    The JV will work towards the LLDC’s new climate action strategy and its 1.5-degree Celsius policy. This will set a new sustainability benchmark for Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. In this way, it will ensure the delivery of high-quality sustainable homes that are fit for the future; and will provide residents with lower energy bills, and enhance their wellbeing. 

2.4.    As covered above, funding from the Homes for Londoners Land Fund is needed to meet the costs of the enabling and infrastructure works summarised in paragraph 1.3. Without this funding, the project is not viable.

2.5.    The Mayor’s strategic target, as set out in the London Plan 2021, is for 50 per cent of all new homes delivered across London to be affordable. One of the specific policy measures identified to achieve this aim is for public-sector land to deliver at least 50 per cent affordable housing. The Mayor has also committed (in his Budget Guidance 2026-27) that, where land assets are disposed of by public bodies, this should be done with the intention of (and on the assumption of) delivering more affordable housing.

2.6.    SWFT, on its own, can support 35 per cent affordable housing (with the tenure of shared ownership). To satisfy the Mayor’s requirement to deliver 50 per cent affordable housing on public land, BWT, the rest of PML and Rick Roberts Way have been tied into the section 106 agreement for SWFT, and will deliver the balance of affordable homes across the portfolio in a planning-compliant manner. This means the remaining sites will have to deliver more affordable rented homes to offset the earlier delivery of shared-ownership homes.
 

3.1.    Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, functions of the GLA, exercisable by the Mayor, are subject to a public-sector equality duty and must have ‘due regard’ to the need to:

•    eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation
•    advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not 
•    foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not.

3.2.    Protected characteristics under section 149 of the Equality Act are age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, and marriage or civil partnership status.

3.3.    Completing the SWFT enabling infrastructure works will unlock significant affordable homes provision; and contribute positively towards addressing the London Borough of Newham’s housing need. The borough is ranked 12th most deprived out of 317 local authority districts. According to the area’s Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) Report 2022, there are an estimated 19,154 households living in unsuitable housing and unable to afford their own housing. Newham’s Housing Register (February 2022), with over 28,000 applicants, is the largest in London; the average waiting time for suitable accommodation is 13 years. The report also states that 4,691 households are housed outside the borough in temporary accommodation; are homeless; or are concealed. This highlights the importance of unlocking homes in the area.

3.4.    Overall, the supply of new housing will benefit Londoners by providing much-needed housing when housebuilding is declining. The increased supply of new affordable homes will bring significant equalities benefits to Londoners in housing need, who are more likely to be negatively impacted by poverty and higher housing costs. The following groups disproportionately make up those in housing need: 

•    households that contain children, including households where one member displays the pregnancy and maternity characteristic 
•    Deaf and disabled households
•    lack and minority ethnic households 
•    older and younger Londoners.
 

Key risks and issues

4.1.    The key risks and issues, and their mitigations, are outlined in the table below: 

Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities

4.2.    Tackling London’s housing crisis is a key priority for the Mayor. His 2021 London plan sets a target for 52,000 new homes to be built in the capital, per year, over the following 10 years. The Mayor’s consultation document for the new London Plan (Towards a New London Plan) sets an increased objective for 880,000 new homes over the next 10 years. The London Housing Strategy also outlines the Mayor’s key priority to increase housing supply in London. The SWFT enabling infrastructure works contribute to new housing supply, by helping to unlock the delivery of around 700 homes at the site.

4.3.    The GLA’s Building More Homes delivery plan commits the GLA to using our existing Land Fund programme to fund enabling infrastructure; and unlock the delivery of homes of all tenures. This is consistent with the recommended funding, to the LLDC, for the development at SWFT; this will contribute to the supply of 700 new residential homes.

Consultation

4.4.    GLA officers have consulted with the LLDC and HE throughout the development of this proposal.  

4.5.    GLA officers procured independent consultants to conduct a viability assessment of the SWFT project. 

4.6.    The independent viability assessment has verified that there is a viability gap of £7,500,000. Therefore, without funding to fill this gap, the project would not be viable and the delivery of 700 homes will be at risk.  

Conflicts of interest

4.7.    There are no conflicts of interest to note from any of those involved in the drafting or clearance of this decision form.

Other considerations

4.8.    The LLDC team will make use of existing governance and reporting processes to input into, and provide, regular updates on progress of the works and delivery of the housing. 
 

5.1.    The MD seeks approval for the GLA to provide £7.5m capital grant to the LLDC. The grant will be funded from the MHCLG Land Fund through the “work to enable more homes of all tenures” project under the Building More Homes programme. It will be used to fund the costs of infrastructure and enabling works at the SWFT site in Newham, to facilitate the delivery of 700 residential homes on that site. 

5.2.    The SWFT site is interlinked with two other sites, for planning purposes: BWT and BWI. The three sites are expected to deliver, in total, 1,300 homes; retail space; infrastructure; and community facilities. The development of the three sites will be delivered in the JV between the LLDC’s subsidiary Stratford East London Developments Limited, and Ballymore – together, Stratford East London Partners LLP.

5.3.    The risks and mitigation strategies have been identified in section 4, above. The grant of £7.5m will reduce financial viability concerns. Effective cost management will be implemented to manage expected future cost increases.
 

6.1.    The foregoing sections of this report indicate that the decision requested of the Mayor, in relation to the £7.5m capital grant, falls within the statutory power of the GLA, under section 120 of the GLA Act, to “pay grants towards meeting capital expenditure incurred or to be incurred by a functional body for the purposes of, or in connection with, the discharge of the functions of that body”. In this case, it is proposed that £7.5m of capital grant is to be used by the LLDC in relation to its regeneration functions in its Mayoral development area.

6.2.    Section 120(3) of the GLA Act provides that: “A grant under this section must not be made subject to any limitation in respect of the capital expenditure which it may be applied towards meeting.”

6.3.    If the Mayor is minded, approving the recommendations in respect of which a decision is sought, officers must ensure that the GLA enters into suitable arrangements with the LLDC to document the availability of the grant funding as a contribution towards the LLDC’s capital costs in the related discharge of its functions.

6.4.    Section 38 of the GLA Act provides that any function exercisable on behalf of the GLA by the Mayor shall also be exercisable by, amongst others, any member of staff of the GLA – if or to the extent that the Mayor authorises, and subject to any conditions imposed by the Mayor. The Mayor may make the delegations proposed in this paper. 

6.5.    Section 213 of the Localism Act provides that, as a Mayoral Development Corporation, the LLDC may – with the consent of the Mayor – give financial assistance, including grant funding, to any person or entity on such terms as the LLDC considers appropriate. Further, consent is required under paragraph 3.2 of the LLDC Governance Direction (updated 2019) as the grant value exceeds the delegation level for financial assistance by grant provided for by the LLDC General Financial Assistance (Grant) Consent 2014. 

6.6.    In taking the decisions requested of him, the Mayor must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010. Reference should be made to section 3 above in this respect.