Old Oak Common: housing scheme to be revised as developers scrap plans to buy the Cargiant lot

The regeneration body behind the multi-billion-pound revival of the Old Oak Common area in west London have formally scrapped plans to buy the Cargiant second-hand car lot.

The Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) said it was “revising plans” and “no longer intends to acquire land owned by Cargiant”, ending months of tension between the body set up by Boris Johnson in 2015 and Britain’s biggest used-car supermarket.

Cargiant had condemned the plans as a “cock-up” and attacked the OPDC for its “track record of appalling waste and failure”.

The 54-acre site had been earmarked for almost 6,000 new homes by OPDC, which had also secured £250 million of Treasury funding for new transport infrastructure.

But the plans were dealt a major blow in September when planning inspector Paul Clark said in interim findings that the site was not viable for residential development.

Today David Lunts, interim chief executive of OPDC, said: “With the price of industrial land shooting up, plans to bring forward Old Oak are unfortunately not currently viable.

“This in no way undermines our ambition for thousands of new homes and jobs, as these can be achieved on many nearby sites.

“This also gives us the opportunity to support Cargiant and further develop the area as a leading location for sustainable innovation.”

The application for funding from the Housing Infrastructure Fund has also been dropped.

Geoff Warren, owner of Cargiant, said: “We are delighted that OPDC do not require any land owned by Cargiant,” adding that he looks forward to “working closely” with the OPDC over future plans.

The regeneration is set to create up to 25,500 homes and 65,000 jobs over the next 30 years.