There is substantial untapped housing capacity around Britain’s railway stations that could be unlocked by allowing higher-density development, opening up new opportunities for property investment.
New research from influential independent think tank, Centre for Cities, estimates that Britain’s 12 largest cities have capacity for around 2.4 million additional homes around existing train, tram and metro stations.
The findings are based on comparisons with cities in France and Japan, where planning systems allow much higher-density development around public transport hubs, concentrating more homes within easy reach of jobs and amenities.
Britain, however, has made much poorer use of this well-connected land, with planning restrictions limiting the scale and density of development around many stations.
France and Japan show what is possible
Centre for Cities compared housing within an 800-metre radius of stations, roughly equivalent to a ten-minute walk, in Britain’s largest cities with comparable cities in France and Japan.
In both those countries, they found far higher concentrations of housing close to public transport. In the cities, housing density around their stations is between 13% and 139% higher than in neighbourhoods farther from a station. In Britain, the maximum difference is just 40%.
And this extends into France and Japan’s suburbs. Housing density around stations in those areas is between 17% and 67% higher than in neighbourhoods farther from a station, compared with a maximum of 15% in Britain.
In Liverpool, Sheffield and Newcastle, the contrast is even more striking, with inner-city neighbourhoods around stations actually less densely developed than those farther away.
Development rates tell a similar story. Between 2011 and 2021, the average major British city built 50% fewer homes near mass-transit stations than its international counterparts, with 30% of stations seeing little or no nearby development.
Huge capacity in regional cities
London has the greatest capacity, at around 1.1 million additional homes, but Manchester would see the next biggest boost to its housing stock, with the potential for around 263,000 extra homes around its existing stations, including 134,000 within its urban core.
Birmingham could accommodate another 211,000 homes, Liverpool 142,000, Leeds 62,000 and Nottingham 47,000.
This is not about building homes on vacant railway land. The figures show how many additional homes Britain’s cities could accommodate if land within walking distance of stations was developed as intensively as in comparable cities overseas.
Planning reform could unlock the potential
The Government has already recognised the opportunity to boost its promised housebuilding programme. In August it made changes to the National Planning Policy Framework that introduced minimum densities around well-connected stations and strengthened the presumption in favour of development close to public transport.
Centre for Cities argues that local authorities and metro mayors should go further, allowing even higher housing densities around stations, reducing restrictions on building heights and requiring less parking. It also wants metro mayors to be given greater control over stations and surrounding Network Rail land, making it easier to bring transport, housing, regeneration and private development together.
This, they say, could open up significant new areas for residential development. Larger schemes could make better use of brownfield and underdeveloped land around existing stations, creating new concentrations of housing beyond established city-centre markets.
These locations have an important advantage: the transport infrastructure is already there. Residents can live farther from city centres while retaining easy access to employment, shopping and leisure. Higher-density development could therefore extend established property markets outwards along existing transport networks, creating new opportunities for development and investment around stations previously surrounded by relatively low-density housing.
Anthony Breach, director of policy and research at Centre for Cities, said: “Building a lot of homes around existing stations is one of the most effective ways to boost city economies.
“Going big on homes around stations will make a significant dent in the housing shortage.”
