Homes England, the Government's housing and regeneration agency, approved the package to unlock more homes and deliver new state-of-the-art infrastructure at Barking Riverside.
The development, a 443-acre brownfield site formerly occupied by Barking Power Station, is one of Europe's largest placemaking projects. Upon completion, the new mixed-use development will provide affordable family homes, enhanced green spaces, 7 new schools and better access to the River Thames, as well as a significant amount of retail, employment and community space.
Tom Copley, the Deputy Mayor of London for Housing and Residential Development, said: "I'm delighted that £124 million has been secured to help unlock 20,000 new, high-quality homes. This will help support the mayor's plans to boost homebuilding across London and build a fairer, more prosperous city for everyone."
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The funding is a combination of loan and grant funding and will help master developer Barking Riverside Limited (BRL) — a partnership between L&Q and the Mayor of London – to prepare the land including flood defence work and the construction of an energy centre and parks.
This vital infrastructure will help make it possible to build another 16,500 homes on the site, to complement the 3,500 already built or under construction by housing association, L&Q and housebuilder Bellway.
This could see up to 20,000 new homes in total delivered at Barking Riverside, creating a community of up to 50,000 people.
Fiona Fletcher-Smith, CEO at L&Q, said: "This new funding from Homes England is a vital boost for Barking Riverside.
"With demand for affordable housing soaring, housing associations like L&Q are essential to delivering solutions — but real progress depends on government support."
The site's current planning consent for 10,800 homes was originally approved by the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham in 2008, however, it's since been identified that the site could house up to 20,000 homes, with a minimum of 35% of these being affordable.
Future homes built at Barking Riverside will be powered by a low carbon District Heating Network, which means that heat and hot water is generated locally and brought to homes through an underground network of insulated pipes, an environmentally friendly alternative to gas boilers.
Matthew Carpen, Managing Director of Barking Riverside, said: "Barking Riverside has delivered thousands of vitally needed new homes for Londoners, on brownfield land that has already seen a significant investment in infrastructure.
"However, the support from Homes England will enable this project to move into a new era — increasing the level of ambition and unlocking housing at the scale needed to truly make an impact."
