Asda to enter London property market with huge housing development plan

Asda today became the latest supermarket to enter the London property market after unveiling plans for a huge 1500 home development in Park Royal.

The plans, which were put together in partnership with housebuilder Barratt, will feature a series of high-rise tower blocks sat on top of a new 60,000 square foot flagship Asda Superstore and up to 400 car parking spaces.

It follows a similar move by John Lewis in 2022, with the retailer submitting plans to build a 24-storey tower on top of its Waitrose shop in Bromley, alongside a nineteen-storey block to provide 353 new homes. A second development in West Ealing is also planned.

The Asda development, which has yet to receive planning permission, would mark the supermarket’s first foray into mixed use property development in signs the supermarket is seeking to diversity its income.

Craig Carson, Managing Director of Barratt West London, said: “This transaction is a sign that there is still land to be unlocked in the capital and reflects one of the markets largest land transactions since 2019. 

“The redevelopment of Park Royal will have a huge impact on the area, with the new town centre unlocking new commercial opportunities for local businesses.”

Asda said up to 1500 new homes are planned for the site, with around 500 of these set to be provided as affordable.

The proposals would also include new retail units, restaurants, health and wellness facilities, and a ‘high-quality public realm space’.  

 Plans would allow for Asda’s existing Park Royal Superstore to remain fully open and continue to serve the local community whilst work was carried out on the new store development. 

John Lewis’s plans in nearby West Ealing had been met with fierce opposition by locals amid signs of the challenges Asda may face to secure planning permission for its development.

Some 90% of the resident responses to a consultation over one of the Waitrose Development were negative by the deadline for comments after John Lewis said its 35% affordable housing target would be scaled back unless it received local authority funding.

Residents also complain that at 20 storeys high, the tallest of the four tower blocks proposed by John Lewis is signficantly higher than guidance set out by Ealing Council under its local plan.