From the 54th floor of Icon Tower at One West Point, the tallest residential building in west London, it is clear to see the development potential surrounding Old Oak Common Station, the HS2 interchange currently under construction.

All change: the Old Oak Common Station ‘superhub’ will directly link to 100 locations across the UK

Down below, old warehouses rub shoulders with ageing offices, retail units and low-rise residential blocks.

Earlier this week, HS2 Ltd, the body responsible for delivering the multi-billion-pound infrastructure scheme, published a report looking at the potential economic impact on west London of the controversial high-speed rail scheme, which has been beset with delays and cost overruns.

The report, titled ‘From trains to cranes: HS2 and the west London development boom’, estimates that the scheme will deliver £10bn of economic benefit to west London over the next 10 years by helping to create more than 22,000 new homes in and around Old Oak Common, and delivering 7.5m sq ft of floorspace providing nearly 19,000 new jobs.

It shows that since royal assent was granted for HS2 in 2017, planning applications within the 1.5-mile radius around the station site have risen by 22%. The value of the planning applications submitted totalled £3.41bn over seven years, an increase of 325% from the previous seven-year period.

Mark Wild, who was appointed HS2 Ltd chief executive last year after Mark Thurston stepped down in 2023 amid criticism over soaring costs, says in the report that much of the debate to date has focused on extending HS2 into central London. However, he believes the scheme’s impact on west London must not be overlooked. “At Old Oak Common, we’re building the best-connected new station ever constructed in this country,” he says, adding that it will be a “superhub” that directly links to more than 100 locations in the UK.

One developer that has already bought into the vision for the area is City & Docklands, owner and operator of One West Point. In 2018, it demolished its old furniture warehouse in north Acton, around a mile away from the Old Oak Common Station site, and the following year it started construction on the residential development. Six years on, a total of 701 apartments have been built across four buildings at One West Point.

Gary Sacks, chief executive of City & Docklands, says the firm felt like a trailblazer by investing in such a large-scale residential development in 2018, but it was confident in the scheme because it had operated from the area for many years. “We knew the Elizabth line was coming – it was too far along to be stopped – and HS2 was potentially happening,” he says. “When we started doing the maths on the rents, it made sense.”

Icon Tower: the tallest residential building in west London

The risk paid off: Icon Tower was fully let within three months of opening in 2022.

Sacks adds: “Now we’ve started building, other people have started coming to the area.”

The section of the railway between Birmingham and Old Oak Common is scheduled to open between 2029 and 2033, according to HS2 Ltd. But it is unclear when, or if, the Euston leg will be completed.

Last week, MPs on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) heavily critcised the rail scheme in a report, saying it provides an example of “how not to run a project” and cast doubt on the government’s plan to fund an HS2 terminus at Euston using private sector money. The PAC also suggests the price tag for the scheme “might be close to £80bn” once adjusted for inflation, near double the Department for Transport’s estimated range of £45bn to £54bn in November 2023.

Strong location

Despite the uncertainty and ongoing criticism, developers remain confident in the Old Oak Common location.

To the north of One West Point, Barratt London has purchased a 10-acre site and plans to replace the existing Asda on the land with a new store at ground level and 1,500 homes above. The developer hopes to secure planning permission by the end of the year.

Craig Carson, managing director of Barratt west London, says: “We recognise west London is a strong part of the city and well connected. It allows us to unlock land that was underused and bring it forward and create new homes.”

A total of 35% of the Barratt London homes on the site will be affordable. The group will also create new green spaces and additional commercial spaces on the site.

Carson says the Old Oak Common project represents a rare opportunity to bring forward a development “of scale” in London: “It’s not just about the homes but the employment and educational opportunities that go with it.”

Imperial College is also increasing its investment in the area. The college started developing in Old Oak Common in 2014 when it invested in an affordable student accommodation scheme. In 2016, it acquired two further sites for another student project and a residential scheme.

Now, it is planning to transform a brownfield site near Old Oak Common Station into a mixed-use scheme. The One Portal Way development will comprise seven buildings spanning 2m sq ft of space and create more than 1,300 homes.

Alice Sewell, investment director at Imperial College London, says the site will become part of the university’s West Tech Corridor, which will provide workspace for tech and science firms in west London. “We knew the new station was coming and it was therefore a good place to invest,” she adds. “It was also only two stops on the Central line from our White City campus. We have been moving west for some time from our original home in South Kensington.”

Sewell says the university predicts it will run out of space at its existing campuses in the next 10 to 15 years and therefore needs “follow-on” locations.

“Old Oak is the perfect place for us in west London,” she adds.

The university hopes Old Oak Common will become a new innovation zone for London, similar to King’s Cross. “Plus, we need more homes for our talent if we’re going to increase the amount of innovation businesses in London,” says Sewell.

Carson believes major infrastructure projects such as HS2 give developers the confidence to invest in emerging areas. “King’s Cross has blossomed on the back of infrastructure changes there,” he says. “Then you have Nine Elms and the extension of the tube to Battersea Power Station. When these infrastructure schemes come in, it gives you that ripple effect.”

According to Sacks, the fact there is no certainty about when HS2 will be completed, or at which station it will terminate in London, does not lower Old Oak Common’s status as a strong investment location. “The area is so well established anyway,” he says. “HS2 is just like the cherry on the top.

“If HS2 terminates at Old Oak Common, then people will stop here. And if it terminates at Euston, then they have a three-minute train journey to Euston. It’s a win either way.

“For us, it’s really exciting.”