Britain’s big cities could unlock 2.4m homes around stations, Centre for Cities finds

Britain’s 12 largest cities are missing at least 2.4m homes around train stations compared with comparable cities in France and Japan, according to new research from Centre for Cities.

image: Centre for Cities

The report argues that better use of land around existing and planned stations could help address the housing shortage while supporting public transport use, access to employment and wider urban economic growth.

More than half of the estimated shortfall – at least 1.2m homes – is within the inner-city urban cores of the 12 cities. The analysis finds that land within a 10-minute walk of stations in British cities is often no more densely developed than land further away.

The gap, says the report, is partly a consequence of Britain's comparatively limited mass-transit networks. The report estimates that in Leeds, 61% of its station density gap with French and Japanese peers is explained by having fewer stations, while the figure is 64% in Bristol.

However, where stations do exist, Centre for Cities says British cities are generally failing to make the most of them. Between 2011 and 2021, the average British city built 50% fewer homes near stations than its French and Japanese peers, while around 30% of stations in Britain's big cities saw little or no development nearby.

The report's authors – Maurice Lange, Luka Kovacevic and Anthony Breach – argue that the solution is not simply to build more stations, but to combine transport investment with higher-density development around them.

They recommend that national government create a faster route for metro mayors to take control of stations and associated land, allowing regeneration schemes to progress without the full statutory rail devolution process. The report also calls for greater use of Mayoral Development Corporations and Mayoral Development Orders to bring together land, planning and private investment.

Centre for Cities says Network Rail should audit the stations and land it controls in established mayoral areas, while mayors and local authorities should use spatial development strategies, local plans and design codes to set expectations for higher density around stations.

The findings come shortly after the government introduced a revised National Planning Policy Framework, which gives stronger policy support to development around well-connected stations and introduces minimum housing density expectations. The framework says development should make the most of existing and proposed transport infrastructure, particularly where this can encourage walking, cycling and public transport use.

The final framework sets a minimum density of 35 dwellings per hectare around well-connected stations, rising to 45 dwellings per hectare around stations served by at least eight trains per hour in targeted locations, according to the Local Government Association's summary of the changes.

Centre for Cities argues that national policy will need to be matched by action from mayors, councils and transport operators. It also calls for additional funding for local planning teams, further planning reform and changes to some environmental requirements on brownfield land.

The report also highlights differences between individual cities. Its analysis suggests that matching international densities while improving transport coverage could potentially add more than 168,000 homes in Birmingham, 148,000 in Manchester and 133,000 in Liverpool's urban cores and surrounding areas.