MD3495 Royal Albert Dock – lease amendments

1.1.    The Royal Docks is the Mayor’s largest land-led regeneration project, with over 175 hectares of land in GLA ownership. The area is set to become one of the most diverse residential, business and visitor destinations in the capital.

1.2.    Royal Albert Dock (RAD) is one of the Royal Docks’ key development sites. It offers up to 400,000 square metres of new development potential, across a 12-hectare site. The site is held fully within the freehold ownership of GLA Land and Property Ltd (GLAP), a subsidiary company of the GLA.

1.3.    A procurement process has begun to appoint a Master Development Partner (MDP). The MDP will deliver a transformational new waterside development at RAD. This will establish a dynamic new place characterised by investment, innovation and enterprise, alongside new homes and community. Appointment of the preferred partner is anticipated in Autumn 2026.

1.4.    To support the delivery of a well-functioning and cohesive new place, changes may be required to various lease interests that exist over the site. This will support the objectives identified at section 2, below. 

1.5.    More detail is contained within Part 2 of this decision form.
 

2.1.    Development of the site will help to deliver against the following strategic objectives: 

•    Major mixed-use development: ensuring the comprehensive mixed-use development of the whole site, supporting a range of residential/non-residential uses.

•    Housing: delivering new homes and community; and so supporting local housing need (including the delivery of affordable housing).

•    Employment and economic growth: supporting new high-quality employment opportunities, skills and education pathways; and so driving innovation and economic growth.

•    Policy priorities: aligning with, and delivering against, policy priorities set by the Mayor of London and the London Borough of Newham respectively. This ensures a clear focus on social, economic and environmental value.

•    Design: delivering a high-quality and well-designed new place.
 

3.1.    Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 (the Equality Act), as a public authority, the GLA must have ‘due regard’ to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation; and to advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations, between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. Protected characteristics under the Equality Act comprise age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, and marriage or civil partnership status.

3.2.    The procurement processes, appointment of an MDP and development of the site will be delivered in line with GLA guidelines and statutory obligations. Any future disposal strategies and development proposals will consider impacts on protected characteristics. 

3.3.    The development of RAD will support numerous Mayoral commitments and priorities in advancing equality related priorities. These include the following: 

•    New development will deliver economic, social and environmental value in various ways. There is the potential for significant benefits in promoting and advancing equality of opportunity for local residents and protected groups. 

•    Potential benefits include meaningful local employment; skills development; educational initiatives; and broad economic growth. The London Borough of Newham is one of the most deprived boroughs in London; access to a range of employment options (from construction to operation), and linked skills and training opportunities, will help advance equality of opportunity across the area.

•    This work will deliver new public infrastructure and housing (including affordable housing). The housing shortage in London disproportionately affects people with certain protected characteristics. Increasing the supply of housing will promote positive impacts. Design will be led by best practice, to ensure due regard for areas such as designing for accessibility and inclusivity. This will also promote improvements to the local public realm, the provision of public space, new connectivity and social infrastructure – supporting liveable, well-designed neighbourhoods.

•    The work will also promote environmental benefits – mitigating against the impacts of climate change, and creating a more resilient, greener environment. Development will align with Good Growth by Design, and policies around achieving net zero – reducing emissions, and driving the delivery of healthy and sustainable places. This will build resilience against the changing climate, and more frequent extreme-weather events. The London Borough of Newham is ranked as the UK’s second-most vulnerable area to extreme heat: over 150 neighbourhoods need urgent action due to high risks of overheating, particularly in densely built, deprived areas.

3.4.    There are no immediate impacts from this decision form on those with protected characteristics.
 

4.1.    The recommendations in Part 2 of this decision form been developed to help deliver the objectives set out above. As a GLAP-led activity, the development of RAD forms part of the project to ‘leverage GLA land holdings and joint venture interests to deliver high levels of affordable housing’ within the Building More Homes programme. 

4.2.    Specifically, this work uses GLAP land holdings to deliver additional affordable housing, in support of the Royal Docks Delivery Plan (2024-29) and the Royal Docks and Beckton Riverside Opportunity Area Planning Framework (2023). These strategies have been designed to deliver up to 36,000 new homes, across various tenures and housing typologies. RAD itself has the capacity to deliver around 2,000 new homes. This will support London Plan (2021) objectives to increase the delivery of homes across all tenures, especially affordable housing. The recommendations in Part 2 of this decision form will support investment in, and use of, GLA assets to contribute meaningfully to increasing London’s housing supply. 

4.3.    In addition to forming part of the Building More Homes programme, the proposals will indirectly support the Making Best Use of Land programme. They will do so by: 

•    ensuring new development promotes high-quality design and placemaking
•    embedding good design to help optimise densities and deliver effective neighbourhoods
•    maximising development opportunities by bringing forward public land (especially brownfield sites).

4.4.    There are no conflicts of interest to declare for those involved in the drafting or clearance of this decision form. 

Key risks

4.5.    Details are contained within Part 2 of this decision form.
 

5.1.    Details are contained within Part 2 of this decision form.

6.1.    Section 30 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (as amended) (GLA Act) gives the Mayor a general power to do anything that he considers will further one or more of the principal purposes of the GLA as set out in section 30(2), which are:

•    promoting economic development and wealth creation in Greater London
•    promoting social development in Greater London
•    promoting the improvement of the environment in Greater London.

6.2.    In formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought, officers confirm they have complied with the GLA’s related statutory duties to:

•    pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people
•    consider how the proposals will: 

o    promote the improvement of health of persons in Greater London
o    promote the reduction of health inequalities between persons living in Greater London
o    contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the UK
o    contribute towards the mitigation of or adaptation to climate change in the UK

•    consult with appropriate bodies.

6.3.    Under section 34(1) of the GLA Act, the GLA may do anything it considers will facilitate or is conducive or incidental to the exercise of any functions of the Authority exercisable by the Mayor or, as the case may be, by the Authority or by both acting jointly, where the Authority shall not by virtue of this section raise money (whether by precepts, borrowing or otherwise) or lend money, except in accordance with the enactments relating to those matters.

6.4.    Under section 38(1) and (2) of the GLA Act, the Mayor has the power to delegate authority to any GLA member of staff.

6.5.    In exercising the power contained in section 30(1) of the GLA Act, the GLA must have regard to: the matters set out in sections 30(3-5) and 33 of the GLA Act; and the Public Sector Equality Duty in section 149 of the Equality Act, as set out in section 3, above.

6.6.    Additional details are contained within Part 2 of this decision form.
 

7.1.    Details are contained within Part 2 of this decision form.