Andy Slaughter accuses developer after admission it may sell building earmarked for homes to police instead

Imgres

A local MP has again blasted developer Capco over the way it has carried out the Earls Court redevelopment in west London

Labour鈥檚 Andy Slaughter, the MP for Hammersmith and a former shadow housing minister, is a long-standing critic of the plan to turn the former Earls Court exhibition venue into new homes.

Slaughter (pictured) told a House of Commons debate on social housing the developer鈥檚 admission earlier this month that it was in discussions with the Mayor of London鈥檚 police department for the potential purchase of the Met鈥檚 counter terrorism HQ in Earl鈥檚 Court was 鈥渢he clearest sign yet the masterplan was in trouble鈥�.

He accused the developer of 鈥渢hrowing in the towel鈥� on the Empress State building which had been expected to be turned into 400 new homes and retail space once the Met moved out when its lease expires next year.

Yesterday the firm said the value of the scheme has dropped by 拢100m as the capital鈥檚 property market runs out of steam.

The firm said the 77 acre site was now worth 拢1bn 鈥� around 12% down on its value at the end of last year and around 拢400m below what its value was at the end of 2015.

Speaking 24 hours before Capco put out its 2017 results, Slaughter said the scheme had 鈥渇allen prey to changing political and market forces鈥�.

Housing minister Dominic Raab said: 鈥淟ocal regeneration can offer enormous scope to build more homes and at the same time build up our local communities, which, whatever side of the political argument we sit on, is the shared objective.鈥�

Last month, Hammersmith & Fulham council rejected Capco鈥檚 request for a new masterplan for the west London site which would see it increase the number of homes by 2,500 to 10,000.

In its results, Capco, which completed tearing down the remaining exhibition halls at the site last month, said: 鈥淭he political environment has made discussions on enhancing the masterplan more difficult, however Capco will continue to seek to engage positively with the GLA, our partners at Transport for London and other stakeholders to evolve the masterplan over time.鈥�

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