The original 1,800-home strip-site scheme stalled as rising construction costs and new building safety requirements hit viability.

Camden Council has now approved Landsec’s revised plan for the 14-acre Finchley Road site, allowing the developer to increase the height of several buildings and reduce affordable housing to restart development.

The wider masterplan will still deliver up to 1,800 homes alongside shops, workspace, leisure facilities and extensive new public realm.

Finchley Road site in North London

Planned scheme with eight blocks of phase 1 outlined in red

Under the revised proposals, affordable housing across the masterplan falls from 35% to 20%, in line with new Government and Mayor of London emergency measures aimed at unlocking stalled housing schemes.

Phase one, which gained detailed planning in the hybrid application, will deliver 651 homes, with extra floors added to several blocks and some buildings rising to around 17 storeys.

The redesign also incorporates changes needed to meet updated building safety requirements and increases the amount of publicly accessible green space.

More than half of the site will be given over to public space, including landscaped areas and improved walking and cycling connections between Finchley Road and West Hampstead.

Landsec is also committed to a £10m contribution towards step-free access at West Hampstead Underground station.

GRID Architects and Heatherwick Studio have worked on the revised designs. The professional team includes AtkinsRealis as cost consultant, with Pell Frischmann as civils and structural consultant and Buro Happold providing MEP consultancy.

Mike Hood, CEO of Landsec, said: “Camden Council gave us a clear mandate in 2023 to transform this isolated, underused land into a mixed-use neighbourhood with new homes, public space and community facilities.

“The economic reality has shifted since then and that’s why we’re updating the first phase of the masterplan.

“Our changes, which respond to emergency measures from the Government and Mayor of London, would enable delivery and protect the many public benefits that the scheme can deliver. Our vision for a greener, healthier and better connected neighbourhood remains the same.”

The three-phase development is expected to take 10 to 15 years to deliver with the O2 shopping and leisure centre demolished in the final phase.