Plans to sell Hyde Park barracks for luxury flats AXED

Plans to sell the Hyde Park barracks have been under consideration since 2012
The Ministry of Defence hoped to raise £500million by selling the site
But the plans have been axed amid the terror threat and a lack of alterantives

By Tim Sculthorpe, Deputy Political Editor For Mailonline

Published: 14:22 BST, 23 October 2017 | Updated: 14:30 BST, 23 October 2017

Plans to sell off the Household Cavalry’s Hyde Park barracks for redevelopment as luxury flats have been axed in the wake of a wave of terror attacks, it emerged today.

The Ministry of Defence had hoped to raise up to £500million for the high profile site and developers had pencilled in lavish plans for a £2billion elite new neighbourhood.

Potential plans to sell the lucrative site have been under development since 2012.

But after a wave of terror attacks saw troops from the barracks deployed onto the streets of London to free up police officers the plans have been halted.

The project was complicated by a failure to find an alternative site within a 30 minute ride of the current barracks for mounted soldiers.

Plans to sell off the Household Cavalry's Hyde Park barracks for redevelopment as luxury flats have been axed in the wake of a wave of terror attacks (file image of soldiers at the barracks in 2011)

Plans to sell off the Household Cavalry’s Hyde Park barracks for redevelopment as luxury flats have been axed in the wake of a wave of terror attacks (file image of soldiers at the barracks in 2011)

The threat level has been raised twice this year in the aftermath of the Manchester bombing and the failed explosion at Parsons Green. Troops were deployed both times.

A defence source told the Evening Standard: ‘Those events reminded the decision-makers at the MoD about the important contribution of these soldiers to the resilience of London on top of their ceremonial role.’

Revised plans could see the site – which runs along Kensington Road and Knightsbridge – split in two.

Discussions between the Government’s Defence Infrastructure Organisation, which is handling the sale, and potential buyers originally started in 2012.

The source said: ‘This looks like a sensible resolution to a problem that could not be overcome. Developers had not been able to come up with a solution that met the demands of the MoD.’

But after a wave of terror attacks saw troops from the barracks deployed onto the streets of London the plans have been halted (pictured at the Palace of Westminster in May)

But after a wave of terror attacks saw troops from the barracks deployed onto the streets of London the plans have been halted (pictured at the Palace of Westminster in May)

The MoD told Property Week: ‘The MoD is investigating how best to deliver State Ceremonial and Public Duties in London.

‘We are currently conducting detailed assessment studies to determine the best way forward. No decisions have yet been taken on future arrangements.’

Simon Birkett, chairman of the Knightsbridge Neighbourhood Forum, said: ‘The forum is finalising its neighbourhood plan for formal submission to Westminster City council.

‘The plan will emphasise that the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment is a vital part of the identity of Knightsbridge, alongside the Royal Albert Hall and Harrods, and set out how the community wants any partial, or full, development of the Hyde Park Barracks land to occur.’