CASE STUDIES
strategic advisory services, London borough of ealing
Since 2023, Neil has worked in close partnership with the Housing and Regeneration team at the London Borough of Ealing to strategically enhance the Council’s housing and land portfolio through a series of negotiated acquisitions.
Drawing on his extensive private sector experience and well-established network, Neil has successfully brokered commercial agreements on behalf of the Council with private developer partners. These acquisitions have been made possible in part through significant funding from the Greater London Authority (GLA), which Neil personally negotiated and secured in direct discussions with GLA officers.
A key milestone includes the recent acquisition of 180 homes from the Berkeley Group at The Green Quarter in Southall. Originally intended for private sale, these homes will now be delivered by Berkeley and allocated by the Council for a mix of social rent and London Living Rent, significantly contributing to affordable housing provision in the borough.
Since the beginning of 2025, commercial terms have also been agreed for additional acquisitions—both permanent affordable homes and temporary accommodation—from other private sector partners. These efforts are aimed at improving the quality of the Council’s housing stock and addressing the acute homelessness pressures currently faced by local authorities across the country.
Anthology kennington stage
After navigating a complex planning history, Neil successfully secured full planning permission in 2024 for the Kennington Stage development.
The scheme will deliver 126 new homes while preserving and integrating the historic Cinema Museum, set within a group of listed buildings.
Despite a number of local constraints—including Conservation Areas, listed structures, London Underground tunnels, and close proximity to neighbouring residential properties—the London Borough of Lambeth’s Planning Committee granted approval for a carefully considered series of buildings, the tallest of which will reach 14 storeys. All taller buildings within the development have been designed to meet the requirements of the Building Safety Act.
The affordable housing element underwent detailed scrutiny by the local authority, their consultants, and the Greater London Authority. Following rigorous viability assessments, it was agreed that the scheme could sustainably deliver 24% affordable housing.
Construction is scheduled to commence in 2025.
ROYAL ARSENAL RIVERSIDE, WOOLWICH
The Royal Arsenal Riverside project represents a stunning transformation of the entire neighbourhood, thoughtfully linking the historic Woolwich town centre to the River Thames through the construction of high-quality, aesthetically refined buildings carefully situated around expansive, landscaped spaces.
As a key member of the development team, Neil successfully co-ordinated a contemporary, mixed-use masterplan that incorporates residential, commercial, community and cultural spaces, parks, a riverside walkway, and a newly constructed Crossrail station located centrally within the development.
The site has been occupied by vacant, redundant warehouse buildings, some of which were listed, which was entirely severed from Woolwich town centre.
This exemplar development has won multiple awards for design quality as well as acting as a catalyst for the wider regeneration of Woolwich and the surrounding area.
Woodberry down regeneration project
Working for the co-ordinating developer, Berkeley Homes, Neil led the creation and subsequent approval of a masterplan that integrated over 5,500 new private and affordable homes amongst a diverse range of commercial and community uses.
Woodberry Down, which occupies a 64-acre site adjacent to two large reservoirs and Finsbury Park, was an existing estate owned and managed by Hackney Council. Through a comprehensive partnership with the Council, Notting Hill Genesis, the local community and the GLA, a new sustainable, thriving neighbourhood is being created that offers high-quality residences, exemplary public spaces, as well as new commercial and community facilities.
In spite of an initial groundswell of local opposition, a comprehensive programme of dialogue and collaboration with the local community was implemented to move the scheme opponents to a significant level of support, even though the proposed scheme density was increasing by over 20%. A general prevailing height of 7 storeys had been proposed but Neil worked with a range of stakeholders to secure support for increased heights of up to 31 storeys.
This multi-award winning project stands as a testament to working in collaboration with local residents to shape a scheme to deliver exceptional outcomes that positively impact the built environment.
Image: Woodberry Down Kick Start 3, designed by Rolfe Judd Architects
(c) Hufton & Crow