Peabody pulls out of 564-home housing plan for west London.

Peabody has pulled out of plans to build 564 new houses on The Green in Southall, citing higher costs and regulations. A big west London housing project with nearly 500 dwellings will no longer proceed as planned.

Peabody has pulled out of plans to build 564 new houses on The Green in Southall. According to records from Ealing Council, the developer determined that the development was no longer financially viable.

The council had agreed with Peabody to renovate the Southall site, which would have resulted in 267 additional affordable dwellings. However, Peabody claims that the scheme cannot continue due to rising prices and expenses.

The council will no longer use Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) powers for the green, and Cabinet has agreed to decommission the scheme’s £16 million capital.

Peabody has emphasised regulatory improvements brought about by the Building Safety Act 2022, which was signed into law in 2023.

It states that the most major cause for its discontinuation was the new need in London to provide two staircases for buildings taller than 18 metres.

 

Conservative Councillor John Gallant enquired whether the council will now consider larger housing projects and whether the authority should choose for more smaller initiatives, citing the issues raised by Peabody’s withdrawal.

Cllr Shital Manro, Cabinet Member for Good Growth and New Homes, responded: “I’m not convinced Cllr Gallant understands the scope of the projects.

This was a 535-unit project, which by definition is not enormous. We have others with 2,000 units, so smaller projects are definitely more expensive.”

So far, it appears that the council has been unable to locate a willing development partner to develop the area, and as the CPO expires in May 2026, the council is open to exploring alternative options.

In what appears to be a significant policy move away from a housing-focused redevelopment of Southall Green, Ealing Council is now proposing a more balanced “employment-led and mixed-use development” strategy.

Ealing Council agrees that the conclusion is “regretful,” but says it will continue to investigate solutions to reach the council’s objective of delivering 4,000 “genuinely affordable homes.”

Mayor Manro continued: “There are a number of developments over the last four or five years where because of the issues around Liz Truss, in terms of interest rates, material increases, COVID, many RP’s have pulled away from the market in terms of carrying on with the developments that we agreed to move forward with.”

Peabody has stepped away from two ventures, this one and Havelock, so we’re nearing the conclusion of the process.

The reports are very explicit in preserving our interests as the council and the costs we may incur.”

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