Stanhope chief executive David Camp has said the £50bn HS2 rail link will not help the regions as it will only bring people into London.
Speaking at Lambert Smith Hampton’s Business Forum in Courmayeur, Italy last night, Camp said: “It is the magnet of London, the scale of the capital and people wanting to be in London with job prospects. I just can’t see how HS2 can spread the wealth northwards. It will have the opposite effect.
“HS2 certainly wouldn’t encourage me to develop in the regions.”
Camp also called on the public sector to release more land for residential development in London.
He said public bodies held at least 40% of development land in the capital through old developments and brownfield sites.
Camp said releasing that land is the only way to solve London’s housing problem.
Stanhope teamed up with Hammersmith & Fulham in October to deliver hundreds of new homes across the borough.
noella.pio.kivlehan@estatesgazette.com
