Hand Network Rail land to metro mayors to speed up housing delivery around train stations, think tank tells government

Control of Network Rail land around train stations should be handed to regional mayors in order to speed up housing delivery, a think tank has argued.

Centre for Cities has called on the government to create a fast-track to “speedily transfer” Network Rail-owned land around train station to mayoral city regions, which would then be financially incentivised to build homes on the land.

Research by the independent think tank found Britain’s 12 largest cities are missing 1.2 million homes around inner-city train stations compared to its peers in the G7.

The study found matching the density of homes around stations seen in France and Japan would give London more than 500,000 more homes, Glasgow 183,000 homes and Manchester 134,000 homes.

Network Rail has been approached for comment.

While Andy Burnham outlined plans last month to speed up delivery of homes close to train stations, Centre for Cities claimed the commitment will move “far too slowly without urgent reform of land ownership and planning rules”.

It said “chronically low density” in cities like Sheffield and Liverpool, where the study found housing densities are lower around train stations compared to further away from them”, is a “significant blocker to economic growth” and argued that closing this gap could reduce the UK’s housing shortage by 25%.

The think tank has called for mayoral development corporations to push forward regeneration of Network Rail land using mayoral development orders to cut planning delays.

Centre for Cities director of policy and research Anthony Breach said: “Building a lot of homes around existing stations is one of the most effective ways to boost city economies. In a low growth economy like Britain, it is one of the most glaringly obvious problems to fix.

“Going big on homes around stations will make a significant dent in the housing shortage. It’s worth around a million homes in Britain. It makes public transport far more efficient and cuts commuting times. It expands the labor market which is good for productivity. It regenerates areas that residents have seen fall into disrepair.

“Fixing this uniquely British problem will deliver significant returns. But the Government must also be clear eyed that without speedy planning reforms and rail devolution – good intentions will get stuck in the swamp of delay, red tape and inter-agency bureaucracy.”

Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotheram said the report ”shows there is much more we could be doing around our rail network”.

He added: “We want to build on what we’ve started. Giving us greater control over stations and the land around them would open up more sites for development and help us build the homes our residents need, where the transport links already exist.”