Former Lendlease developments boss to head up new company set to build 40,000 homes on surplus railway land

The government has set up a new development company to deliver 40,000 new homes over the next decade on surplus railway land.

Called Platform4, the government-owned company has been formed from a merger of London and Continental Railways and Network Rail’s property development team.

It will be chaired by Bek Seeley, the former boss of Lendlease’s developments business who left nearly two years ago after eight years with the company, having arrived at Lendlease as commercial director before being made managing director of the firm’s development business for Europe in late 2019, taking over from Jonathan Emery.

Previously, London and Continental Railways and Network Rail operated independently, managing surplus rail land across the UK.

But the government complained this was inefficient and said it hopes to save an estimated £227m by creating a “unified structure” to build homes on railway brownfield sites over the coming 10 years.

The government says it wants to attract more than £350m in private sector investment into Platform4, with profits generated from the property company set to be reinvested into Britain’s railways.

Earlier this year the Treasury announced plans for a taskforce to unlock unused public land and said Network Rail would form a new property company in partnership with government-owned developer London & Continental Railways.

Today, announcing the name and details of Platform4, the government said it hoped the state-backed developer will deliver 15,000 homes on surplus rail land over the next five years as part of its commitment to build 1.5m homes by the end of Parliament.

Transport secretary Heidi Alexander said: “It’s exciting to picture the thousands of families who will live in these future homes, the vibrant neighbourhoods springing up and the new businesses that will launch thanks to these developments.”

Four sites already earmarked for development include Newcastle Forth Goods Yards (opportunity for up to 600 new homes), Manchester Mayfield (opportunity for 1,500 new homes), Cambridge (a mixed-use development with 425 homes) and Nottingham (200 new homes following 348 successfully delivered homes at The Barnum).