Council may ‘land-grab’ in row with company behind £12bn Earl’s Court scheme

Planners want to build 7,500 homes on a site which includes the demolished Earls Court Exhibition Centre near Earl's Court station (pictured)
Gareth Richman

Council bosses today raised the stakes in their long-running battle with the property giant behind the £12 billion regeneration of Earl’s Court.

Labour-run Hammersmith & Fulham council said it was “considering” a compulsory purchase order over land earmarked for the development, which includes the site of the demolished Earls Court Exhibition Centre.

It is the latest move in a row between the council and property firm Capco, which wants to create “four urban villages and a high street” between North End Road and Warwick Road.

The council has demanded the return of two former council estates at Gibbs Green and West Kensington sold to Capco by the previous Conservative administration in 2012.

This dispute has overshadowed the scheme’s plans, drawn up by urban planner Sir Terry Farrell, to build 7,500 homes. Around 1,500 of these would be designated affordable. In November Capco said it was in talks to sell most of its Earl’s Court holdings to a Hong Kong billionaire.

The council has now said it is “considering a compulsory purchase order”, which allows state bodies to buy private land without the consent of the owner, for the former Earls Court Exhibition Centre site and Lillie Bridge Depot site. It added: “The purchase would both accelerate the delivery of homes and let the council increase the number of affordable homes. Only a few hundred of the 7,500 consented new homes have been delivered across the Earl’s Court Opportunity Area since 2013.”

The Exhibition Centre site is owned by ECPL, a joint venture between TfL and Capco, while the depot site is owned by TfL. Councillor Andrew Jones said: “There is a huge demand for homes, and we’re determined to help build these.”

Both the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the former Hammersmith & Fulham administration granted planning consent for the masterplan. Hundreds of homes have already been completed at Lillie Square.

A Capco spokeswoman declined to comment. The firm has previously noted that the estates’ sale “was entered into freely by the borough and followed all necessary process, including sign off by its cabinet and the Secretary of State”.

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