The flagship housing scheme in Edmonton has faced a number of challenges in recent years as the council has struggled in its role as master developer, reports James Cracknell

Meridian One, the first phase of Meridian Water, remains under construction

Enfield Council looks set to end its role as master developer of its Meridian Water housing scheme – as an independent report warns demand for residential sites in London has “significantly diminished”.

The council has faced a series of unexpected delays and rising costs over the past decade since work began to assemble a swathe of industrial sites in the south-east corner of Edmonton, where the civic centre has long aimed to build 10,000 homes.

But with only 301 homes so far built – despite the council taking on almost £500million-worth of debt to finance land purchases and enabling works – the whole development has been “comprehensively reviewed” by independent real estate experts Savills.

The company’s long-awaited report, published for the first time this week, warns of “nervousness from some residential developers” and low demand caused by “poor public realm” around Meridian Water Station and “very few amenities to draw people in”.

Some of the first Meridian Water flats for private sale remain unsold – more than three years after first being marketed – while small parcels of land the council had hoped to offload have also struggled to attract buyers.

The recommendations made by Savills include selling much larger areas of land, allowing private developers to exert greater control over how parts of Meridian Water are developed in the long-term.

“Larger land parcels enable major developers of brownfield land to develop a long-term pipeline that creates value and placemaking over time,” the report states.

“A more piecemeal strategy runs the risk of a fragmented (and potentially competing) approach to delivery, and the dilution of value.”

The report further urges the council to “consider the level of landowner control it requires in future land agreements to achieve a balance between protecting the council’s commercial positions and facilitating partners to invest and take development risk”.

It adds: “The council will need to continue to have a strategic role in the project but, having invested significant funds to date, facilitating further external investment will be the focus for the coming years.

“Strong strategic relationships will be important to achieve this and will represent a shift of focus away from a master developer role where land assembly, planning policy, and infrastructure delivery have been the focus.”

In anticipation of the change in direction, the council has already cut the size of its own Meridian Water team at Enfield Civic Centre, reducing the number of staff directly assigned to the project from 26 to 16.

Commenting on the shift, council leader Ergin Erbil said: “Meridian Water is about building quality homes and creating jobs local people need.

“To make this happen in a tough market, we have to stay flexible and respond quickly to changing conditions.

“That’s why Enfield Council stepped in as master developer when the market stalled. Buying land, securing planning permission, funding infrastructure and kick-starting delivery.

“We’ve already helped build a new station, the first homes, new parks and roads, and we’re close to completing the strategic infrastructure works, which will help unlock the site’s full potential for future developers.

“Now is the right moment to bring larger parcels of land to market.

“This will help us explore attracting private investment and experienced development partners who can speed up the delivery of desperately needed homes.”

Taylor Woodrow is currently leading on the strategic infrastructure works at Meridian Water, which includes a number of new roads, bridges, cycle lanes and parks that have all been funded by a £195m government grant.

The completion of these works is expected to speed up housing delivery. But there still remains uncertainty over the future of sites including the former Ikea store, as well as fears that sites to the east of the River Lee Navigation could remain undeveloped for decades.

Cllr Erbil continued: “While we can’t predict the exact impact of this [new] approach, we’re confident that offering larger parcels of land at a time when major infrastructure is nearly complete will draw strong market interest. We expect increased capital receipts to come through in 2026/27, receipts that may not otherwise have materialised in current conditions.

“For debt planning, we have slowed the expected pace of receipts over the next ten years, meaning debt will fall more gradually. But this is a 25-year programme and receipts will naturally rise and fall with the market. We’re confident this approach will keep Meridian Water moving quickly.”

He added: “With the strategic infrastructure works nearing completion, the council’s master-planning role is largely done. This direction focuses on securing partners for major sites to speed up delivery of homes and jobs.

“We have restructured the Meridian Water team to be leaner to focus it on the important core tasks needed to bring partners on board.

“This approach ensures council resources continue to be used wisely to build the high-quality housing and create the jobs Enfield wants to see.”

The change in approach from the council has received a cautious welcome from campaigners and opposition councillors.

A Better Homes Enfield spokesperson said: “This signals a major change in direction, which could be good news for Enfield. The council hasn’t been able to deliver Meridian Water at the pace and scale promised. This change means responsibility can now shift from the council to experienced developers.

“This is a chance to reassess the project and set realistic expectations about what it can actually deliver for the people of Enfield. For years the council has set increasingly unrealistic targets and then failed to meet them, creating confusion, increasing debt and ultimately slowing progress.

“There are still many unanswered questions, not least whether the council will be able to recoup the money it has spent, and crucially, how many affordable homes will now be delivered, and by when.”

Lee Chamberlain, the Conservative group’s housing spokesperson, said: “With the Labour council having borrowed half-a-billion pounds to only deliver about 300 homes over 16 years, taking an axe again to the project team is an admission that the Labour administration has failed as the ‘master developer’.”

He added: “Clearly our concern now is to keep a watchful eye that any sell off of land is done properly, and used to reduce the debt costs.”

A council report detailing the proposed changes to its Meridian Water strategy will be considered for approval by cabinet members on Wednesday, 25^th February.

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