Council recommends Earls Court CLSA

LB Hammersmith & Fulham officers have recommended an agreement to transfer the West Kensington and Gibbs Green estates to Capital & Counties.

The recommendation will be discussed by the council’s cabinet on September 3.

The Conditional Land Sale Agreement (CLSA) between H&F and developer EC Properties, a subsidiary of Capco, would net the council approximately £105million, an estimated £54million of which, after compensation and costs, they say would be available to be reinvested back in the borough.

The council would also receive 760 replacement homes for people currently living on the estates. The council says that independent financial advice received by the council says the CLSA would be worth £220million to £289million as a whole before costs.

The estates would then form part of Capco’s Earls Court regeneration scheme already under way with an outline plan for the area to be considered by LBHF on September 12, and a detailed permission for 808 homes on the Seagrave Road car park site already granted. These homes will be used to start the decant process for residents in the two estates, so their present homes can be demolished and rebuilt.

The overall area plan is expected to deliver 9,500 permanent new jobs and 8,000 new homes.

The recommendation follows an extensive consultation on the estate and wider area which revealed that the majority of the people in the wider area are in favour, while a majority of people – 64.9% – who took part in the consultation on the estates are opposed.

Cllr Nicholas Botterill, Leader of H&F Council, said: “This redevelopment could deliver the kind of economic growth that London needs to move out of recession ploughing hundreds of millions of pounds worth of investment into the local economy and bringing thousands of new homes and jobs. We have said all along that the major beneficiaries of this investment have to be the residents living on West Kensington and Gibbs Green estates, followed by the wider area, the borough and London as a whole.

“We will only make a final decision after weighing up all the arguments, looking at the economic studies and the views of our residents. We know that many people living on the estates want new homes, while many other people have concerns. If the CLSA is signed we will continue to listen to people and do our very best to address those concerns.”