Barnet: turning heads

The leafy outer london borough of Barnet is more usually associated with tranquil surburbia and small “c” conservatism than bold new ideas in development and regeneration.

But the north London borough is home to one of the most inventive strategies in the South, and it’s kicking off an ambitious 10-year £3.5bn regeneration plan to rival the redevelopment of King’s Cross. By 2016, it will have 33,000 more homes – nearly double its target in the mayor’s London Plan.

Barnet Homes, an arm’s-length management organisation, has been set up to spend £88.5m bringing 9000 council homes up to the Decent Homes standard.

But Barnet also has areas of deep-seated economic failure, so the council opted for a radical approach, capitalising on its high land values.

The plan is to knock down four estates and rebuild at higher densities, funding large-scale regeneration by selling the extra homes on the private market.

It’s a model the Association of London Government believes could be used elsewhere in the capital – it has been consulting other boroughs and has forwarded their responses to the ODPM.

“Other boroughs could do more development. You can create opportunities if you’ve got the will,” says Brian Reynolds, deputy chief executive and director of social affairs at Barnet council.

Barnet is undeniably prosperous – and has more than its fair share of millionaire’s mansions – but it is also far more diverse than many outsiders realise. Just a third of Barnet conforms to the suburban stereotype, a third is greenbelt land and the remainder is made up of pockets of poverty: while Garden Suburb ward is in the 5% least deprived in England, Burnt Oak falls just outside the category of 15% most deprived.

Managing such dramatic growth is a delicate political balancing act for Barnet’s Tory-led council, and the development strategy reflects the area’s three different personalities. It promises to protect the greenbelt; enhance the suburbs, while sustaining quality development and creating 20,000 jobs.

“Development like this is political with a small ‘p’,” says Stewart Murray, head of planning. “We have to please many different people and there are a lot of very articulate NIMBYs.”

The Stonegrove estate, for example, is bordered by detached and semi-detached private homes that go for anything from £300,000 to £750,000. Against the backdrop of the greenbelt, its crumbling 1960s tower blocks are hardly an inviting sight for visitors approaching Barnet on the A41.

The council plans to replace 600 social rented homes with 500 new ones; 130 shared ownership; a new road system; and a city academy – one of Labour’s new publicly funded independent schools – designed by Norman Foster.

Tenants like the idea: the plans had an 87% yes vote on a 75% turnout – but persuading the private neighbours was a tougher job. “It was actually easier to get the tenants who would have their homes demolished on side.

“Other residents just see eight years of disruption,” says Reynolds.

In fact, the main issue for all residents is infrastructure. The tube is the main artery into central London, but the creaking Northern Line is hardly able to withstand such dramatic levels of population growth.

One cause for optimism is the mayor’s announcement of a £600m signalling system for the line. And Reynolds believes Barnet’s strategy of embracing growth will give it an advantage when lobbying for resources.

“We’re more likely to get infrastructure improvements if we’ve got a coherent approach to regeneration,” he says.

“Regeneration is about more than just building new housing. In many ways, that’s the easy bit.”