Site near Hemel Hempstead railway station could bring more than 450 homes and 40k sq ft of commercial space

A 7.4acre site near Hemel Hempstead railway station could bring more than 450 new homes to the town - plus new shops and better facilities for passengers.

A development partner is now being sought to create a 'new vibrant residential community' for the town on the site, which also has room for 40,000 sq ft of commercial space.

LCR and Network Rail - who are bringing the site to market - say the site’s proximity to the station gives it unrivalled connectivity and transport links, and it sits close to key local amenities, including supermarkets, restaurants and cafés, leisure facilities, schools and nurseries.

It also backs onto Blackbirds Moor, a popular walking destination, part of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and home to the Box Moor Cricket Club.

Andrew Ferguson, regional director at LCR, said: “After much hard work over the past 24 months, we’re excited to have reached this next key project milestone as we implement our masterplan and bring the site to market.

"Coupling easy access to London with open green spaces and high-quality community assets, this site represents an unmissable opportunity to unlock new homes, commercial space and public value”.

JLL has been instructed to support the selection of a development partner.

Sajaad Ahmad, director at JLL, said: “We are delighted to bring such an exciting opportunity to the market and are seeking for a partner who shares LCR and Network Rail’s vision and ambition for creating a new vibrant residential community in Hemel Hempstead.”

LCR and Network Rail formed a partnership in 2018 to identify opportunities to free up underutilised land for residential development at and around stations across the rail network.

The two organisations will work alongside landowners to pool or acquire the critical mass of land required for new development at every station, before securing planning and bringing opportunities to market alongside other key government agencies, including Homes England.

The partnership recognises the importance of a collaborative process in creating new, market-ready opportunities.

Bringing together the unique and complementary skillsets of the public, private, rail and real estate sectors is key to unlocking development across these often-complex brownfield sites.

Nationally, LCR - owned by the Department for Transport - is working with local authorities to bring forward development around stations across the country.