A new report published at the start of November detailed an interesting proposal that could lead to land being freed up in London for house building. The idea is to develop suburban car parks in areas close to Tube or rail stations. Car ownership is predicted to drop in the coming decades. As a result these pieces of land could become largely obsolete and therefore prime locations for new homes.

The report pinpointed 868 car parks that could provide great development potential. An average of 90 homes could be built on these sites. If all of them were redeveloped it would add thousands of new houses.

Around half of the car parks are already owned by local authorities. This would make redevelopment much easier and could provide new income for councils to use for a variety of projects. It would also give them more say over the number of affordable homes to be built.

Bromley had the largest number of sites already owned by the local authority with a total of 45. Havering came second with 30 and Hillingdon placed third with 28. Surprisingly many of them are located in suburban areas where councils can struggle to find land that is suitable for developing larger numbers of homes.

There have already been a number of projects involving car park redevelopments in London. One of the most high profile is in Marylebone. The 0.83 acre site was purchased in 2013 and subsequently transformed into 79 homes and 11 commercial spaces. The design even included a new subterranean lot with 95 parking spaces.

There is great potential for the 868 pieces of land. It will be interesting to see if local authorities across the capital take a close look at the development potential they offer.

Finefair is proud to be the most consistent provider of estate management Bromley has to offer. We regularly work in this suburban Borough and can deliver excellent services for all investors. A part of our service that offers great value is we keep our eyes open for new investment opportunities. New homes on car parks in the area close to transport links could offer great premiums if housing demands continue to grow.

If you would like to find out more about the area of investing in properties in general, please contact us.