Major new Shoreditch growth plan unveiled

A new plan has been published by Hackney Council, setting out an expansion of office, community, retail and public space in Shoreditch, while creating jobs for local residents and protecting and enhancing Shoreditch's built heritage and character..

The Future Shoreditch Area Action Plan sets out how new development could contribute more than 30 aircraft hangars (200,000sq m) worth of additional office space, create up to 11,000 new jobs, build 500 new homes and bring about 28 projects to create greener, safer and more welcoming streets and public spaces.

Shoreditch has a global reputation as a Hackney neighbourhood where creative, innovative led enterprise and entrepreneurship meet an extraordinary cultural and arts led daytime and nighttime economy. The neighbourhood has experienced phenomenal economic growth in recent years, and the Area Action Plan captures this context and has been influenced by more than 250 local residents and businesses.

The Plan provides a detailed planning framework, focused on guiding good growth in Shoreditch to 2040. This means balancing continued economic growth and the demand for space with the needs of local communities, alongside protecting the neighbourhood’s unique architectural character and improving the quality of life for residents, workers and visitors. 

Guidance includes identifying land use, building heights, public spaces, transport infrastructure, mixed-use development and new and affordable workspace, employment opportunities and the retail, cultural and hospitality sectors that make up Shoreditch’s daytime and nighttime economy, with this guidance to influence future planning decisions in the neighbourhood.

Policies also maximise opportunities for genuinely affordable housing, with a focus on social rent and “intermediate” tenures, including London Living Rent, Hackney Living Rent and Key Worker Living Rent.

Fifteen opportunity development sites in the neighbourhood have been identified. These sites could collectively deliver around 500 new homes, 200,000sq m of office floorspace and 15,000sq m of retail and community floorspace.

Councillor Guy Nicholson, Hackney’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration, said: “Shoreditch is one of London’s most significant economic growth success stories, and Hackney Council wants to see that growth continue. The Future Shoreditch Plan identifies development that can deliver new office space, new homes, new retail, hospitality and cultural spaces, new public spaces and create jobs for local residents.

“The Future Shoreditch Plan sets out how good growth can be delivered in a creative and innovation led economy that supports enterprise and entrepreneurs to start up and scale up, creates jobs while enhancing the neighbourhoods architecture and heritage, delivering genuinely affordable homes and workspaces, and improving streets and public spaces for residents, visitors who live and work in this unique part of central London. 

“There is now an opportunity for you to contribute to this good growth plan, you can have your say about your priorities for Shoreditch and help shape Shoreditch’s future.”

A public consultation on this final version of the Plan is live until Tuesday 7 April an important formal stage in the Plan making process, where anyone can comment on the Plan before it is submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for independent examination