Ealing Council has scrapped plans for a major housing development in Southall due to viability concerns, it was revealed at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, 11 November 2025.

The decision to terminate the Development Agreement (DA) and the Compulsory Purchase Order Indemnity Agreement (CPOIA) with Peabody Developments Limited for The Green, Southall was made after Peabody confirmed that the project was no longer financially viable. The cabinet agreed to decommission the existing capital budget of £16.4m for The Green and remove it from the capital programme, as the scheme is no longer proceeding.

Councillor Shital Manro, Cabinet Member for Good Growth and New Homes, presented the report outlining the challenges facing the development. The original plan, approved in October 2021, envisioned 564 homes, with 50% designated as affordable housing, alongside 2,900 square metres of commercial space.

However, since Peabody secured the tender in 2019, the construction industry has faced significant headwinds. These include:

  • Labour shortages
  • Rising material, labour, and energy costs
  • The Building Safety Act 2022 requiring two staircases in high-risk buildings, reducing the number of homes and increasing construction costs
  • An oversupply of market sale housing, depressing sales receipts
  • Fluctuations and uncertainty of interest rates
  • Increased levels of unaffordability for many purchasers

A white electric vehicle with
A white electric vehicle with \"ZERO emissions\" printed on the side, illustrating the council's EV charging strategy.

The Green development site is part of the Southall Opportunity Area, designated by the Greater London Authority (GLA) in their 2011 London Plan. The council retains the freehold of its Featherstone Terrace car park and has an option to retain the Medina Dairy Factory site which the council acquired by agreement (funded by Peabody).

While the termination of the agreement is a setback, the council is exploring alternative regeneration strategies for the area, framed by the Southall Reset and the New Local Plan. This strategy will prioritise employment-led and mixed-use development, taking a local stakeholder and community-led approach with land assembled through productive partnerships and acquisitions by agreement. According to the council, a new Compulsory Purchase Order would not form part of that strategy.

Discussions are underway with landowners within the Featherstone Estate, a Locally Significant Industrial Site (LSIS), to explore land assembly and partnership opportunities.