David Taylor meets Leigh Johnson, managing director of Barking Riverside, to quiz her over the 20,000 homes project, her love of the site, and her vision for a place once dubbed as ‘Barcelona-on-Thames’. 

Hello, Leigh. How are you doing? 

Leigh Johnson 

Really good, thank you. 

How is the job? How is your role, and what do you think the main goal is of that role? It's a pretty critical point in the project, isn't it? 

I'm nine weeks in and it's a pretty long [career so far] - we're talking 20 years plus. But in terms of my main goal at this point in time, I'm trying to break it down, and it is three-to-five-to-10 years. So really, the priority for me is basically to reset, reinvigorate. This is a project that's been going for quite some time. It's solid, and, like I've said before, it's got good bones with the infrastructure that's already gone in. But any project of this size and scale, particularly when you're early doors in development - you've got residents living in there - you need to keep on it in terms of its perception in the market, how you're responding to residents. Because one of the key things for us as a master developer is re-establishing, reiterating, however you want to call it, Barking Riverside Limited as a master developer. 

Our job is to bring serviced parcels of land that is de-risked to the market. Really leading into that, the short-term priority for me is to bring in a third plot developer. You're probably aware that up until now, the site's pretty much been led by Bellway and L&Q, that have a historic interest in the project. And so, we want that diversity of tenure typology and developers on the site. So, priority one: re-establish us as master developers, reinvigorate the site and messaging, both internally and externally, secure a new third plot developer on the site. Shake it up a bit. And most importantly, we've got the very large planning application that's in the background. I want to get that secured and nailed probably by Summer 2026. 

Yes, that's when it's being determined, is it? 

Yes. 

You've got a date already? 

Well, we're looking at a committee date in the first quarter of 2026, which is really positive. But obviously an application of this scale is going to have, quite a – I don't want to say unwieldy, because we can manage it, both at Be First and ourselves – but it will have quite a chunky Section 106 associated with it. And so, in terms of a deliverable planning consent, in the updated planning consent for the 20,000 [homes], I think, realistically that will be Summer ‘26, but if we can get a resolution in the first quarter of next year, that'll be amazing. That'll be a really big deal. 

You mentioned the word 'perception' earlier about the project. What is the perception, as far as you're concerned, that you've gleaned from A, the public and B, the development community of this project, and indeed, what will the place be like? 

Are we talking perception of what the place is, or the perception of the site? 

Both really, the place and the scheme. 

Yes. So, there's two things. Obviously, I'm coming from a delivery background, and I think that was one of the drivers, that this site has been going for a while. A site of this scale obviously takes a while to get moving, when you think about the level of infrastructure that's gone in and the homes that have already been built. But I would say we're 10-15 years into infrastructure delivery, but we're really now at the point where we really should be motoring in terms of delivery, and that, for me, is the priority piece. 

If I think about perception in the market, the site is well known, well regarded. It's well positioned in terms of it as a borough, because we're working with Barking and Dagenham, which is a pro-growth borough. We've got really supportive planners that are pro- growth. If you look at our JV partners, we're all moving in the right direction. It's L&Q and the GLA, and so the message is very much, delivery, delivery, delivery, homes, homes, affordable housing. So, it's got all the right messaging. But again, we need top developers to build them out. So, we've got all the jigsaw pieces in place, but what we need to do is ask what Barking Riverside means to A.N Other PLC or an SME or interested parties that want to build houses, want to utilise grants. And that includes registered providers as well. So, how do we - I'm going to use the word again - 'reinvigorate' what Barking Riverside has to offer. 

I think it's about confidence and credibility of us as master developer, what we're looking to do is de -risk the site, we bring parcels to the market to encourage house builders to do what they are really good at - which is to build houses. And don't worry about everything else, because we'll be delivering the public space, the public realm, the community facilities, the commercial. 

So, I think there's a piece there from the market. And when I say market, I mean the built environment and our peers, in terms of developers, the commercial element. I think there's a perception and a reset there that is required, and that's something that I'm looking at with the team and with advisors and consultants. 

But then Barking Riverside as a place - we already have 3500 homes built, and that will be 7000 families/residents. We've already got five of the seven schools built and operational. And alongside that, the spaces and places coming forward in terms of public realm, etc. There's good engagement and interaction with the existing residents. Obviously, they are keen to see the site grow - most of the things that support homes and where people want to live. Schooling is incredibly important, as well as the things that everybody needs in terms of adequate quality health care; they're the sorts of things that are our focus moving forward, and that's the piece where we have a responsibility to our existing residents and our new residents. 

Because it's those component parts that are going to build this place and add the colour and the depth to what this place will become. So, there's a good community there already. We have a responsibility, as a master developer, to get new developers in, which will also fund further money to invest in the place as well. So, it's an iterative thing, yeah, but the place, at the moment, just in the nine weeks I've been there, has a really, really good feel to it. I'm still a newbie. I still get blown away every time I turn up on site, and I see the relationship to the river, and also the feel of that part of the river Thames. It is very wild and quite, quite gritty. And so that's something that the place, I think, has to offer, and that our existing community are tapping into and utilising. So, I think there's two things. There's a perception in the marketplace for our partners, and how do we say we're open for business, and this is a really good and a solid place to be building and working. And then with our existing residents. How do we nurture them? How do we support them? How do we deliver those next and critical pieces of social infrastructure for them? 

I dimly recollect a flurry of newspaper reports a while back describing the Barking Riverside project as Barcelona-on-Thames. I think there was one in The Guardian. Is that helpful or valid as a descriptor? 

(laughs) I'm laughing, partly because, sadly, geography was not my strong point at school - I've been to Barcelona and I didn't even know it was on the water! Look, [Barking Riverside] is a place in its own right. If I think about it as a place in London, you can't compare it to anything, because there is no other place of this scale.

That scale is 20,000 homes eventually, is it? 

Yes. Up to 20,000 homes. It needs to be a draw.  The site has two kilometres of south-facing river Thames frontage, right in one ownership. What site in London has got that, that is also allocated for housing and has a JV partner that wants to deliver it? So, yes, you could compare it. Sadly, I don't think we're ever going to have the weather that you get in Barcelona! But as a draw, and it's something that I'm really keen to do, that the river is such an opportunity for us, and that is something that we really need to max out on, whether it be the homes that will be fronted onto the river, or the commercial spaces or the public spaces. 

I'm still a bit giddy. I think I've used the Clipper three times to approach the site. We've got this fabulous new jetty that's been built. We're the last stop east and what I'm doing at the moment is when I'm bringing consultants in, we're meeting either at Blackfriars or Embankment, and we're having a 50-minute meeting on the Clipper and then jumping off. And so, when we're on the site, we can then say, right, what does this mean? It's giving that sense of arrival. 

So of course, there are comparisons. It begins with ‘B’, it's got water's edge, but it's Barking Riverside in its own right. And the task for us is, how do we unlock and how do we maximise that opportunity? I think the bones are already there. The infrastructure is there, what we've got to be focusing on is that next land parcel coming in, in terms of the next developer coming in, but really start to drill into whether it be a meanwhile or a temporary space. How do we link that Clipper up to the station so that we can get people to come to the site, not necessarily to buy houses, but what can we do on this site that starts to make it a destination? What is it going to be about Barking Riverside? And I think the thing for me, that has been a real surprise to me, because I'm relatively new to this part of London, is when drive in. I come in off the M25 but pretty much with the approach to the site, obviously, you've got the A13, and it's quite busy. It's congested in terms of traffic and noise and air quality. And then as soon as you approach, and you're within what is effectively the red line of the site –  and this isn't me being romantic – your heartbeat slows down. Because what I really notice is, yes, you look out across and you can see the cement works, and you see cranes, and you can see the port. But you can also hear the River Thames. You hear birds. You see birds; there's even a resident seal. And you can just feel that you can breathe and slow down, and it's a real juxtaposition. Five minutes out, you've got the A13, and it's busy, and it's fast – hopefully – and it's congested and the air quality [is poor], whereas you've got this place where you can actually stop and take a breath. That's something that we must not lose, and that's part of that destination piece that we're trying to crystallise everything down to. 

Some of the stuff we're doing, even with land, the very subtle connections, even the landscaping that we're putting in some of the public spaces, it's quite organic and gritty and wild. So, it's leaning into that water's edge piece that isn’t manicured, that isn't constrained. So yes, it's got its own qualities, but it's very, very different to any part of London. So yeah, I'll take Barcelona on Thames. But it's definitely Barking (laughs), in its own right. 

(laughs) Two very quick questions, because we're slightly over time. What could central government do to assist this country’s housing crisis, and vis à vis the project in your new role, what is your wish for 2026 beyond planning permission? 

I think it's really good news that's coming out from government, particularly the GLA with the emergency measures; obviously, that will help. And I think having had a short stint on the other side – I did three years at homes England – to be fair, government bodies have to have parameters or programmes or buckets of funding that they have to work to, yeah, they've got to have boundaries in terms of parameters, of what is this money for, and how it works. But what I would ask, and I think the real wish, particularly from the development industry, is to continue to engage, to accept that there are parameters to how money should be spent, and what those requirements are. Obviously, delivery of homes, affordable housing build at speed. But I think it's about having those open and honest discussions with the  companies and the businesses that will be delivering those homes and seeing if there's some flex within those policies or those funding programmes that, if you can clearly demonstrate a commitment and a desire to move forward, how could it look on this site? How could we deliver it differently? And listen to the people that know how to deliver things, whether it be the PLCs or the SMEs or regeneration bodies. They know exactly what the issues are on site and how you can flex and move and just get things to change. It has to be more than just a very dry set of parameters of what this funding is. And I think I know, having worked at Homes England, if you can put forward a compelling argument where the output will be good quality homes built at pace, then there's always some flex in how that money is distributed and how it can be delivered. We're already finding that working with Homes England, in terms of some of the infrastructure stuff that they're funding, they're being incredibly accommodating, because they understand all the different pressures on these schemes. 

And the last question, what's your wish? 

I think it's got to be those early wins to get us back on the map. It's securing that new outline planning consent, getting that new plot developer on site, and really cracking on with the infrastructure and public realm that Homes England are funding. So, there's some big numbers coming out in 2026, and that's quite exciting. So, there's hopefully some big announcements coming out from Barking Riverside Ltd that will have secured consent new plot developer and cracking on with much needed infrastructure. 

Well, good luck with it all, and congratulations on how much of it is Barcelona already! 

(laughs) Thank you! Thanks very much, David. Bye!