Brent South Retail Park will now trade until at least 2029. TK Maxx and Sofology have renewed, and Darlings of Chelsea takes an empty unit.

Brent South Retail Park will keep trading until at least autumn 2029, about three years later than Barnet Council expected when it bought the site. The council has also signed up a new tenant for its empty furniture unit and renewed two of its biggest shops.

Three decisions published by the council set this out. All three were signed on 14 October by the council leader, Cllr Barry Rawlings.

The redevelopment date has moved to 2029/30

The council bought the freehold of the retail park on 5 February 2021, so it could fold the land into the Brent Cross South regeneration. When it bought the park, it expected to need the site empty in 2026/27.

That date “has recently been revised to 2029/30”, according to the council’s report on the Darlings letting. Until then, the council wants the units let, so they earn rent and do not become “a practical problem or burden on the public purse”.

New leases at the park therefore let the council take the units back from 29 September 2029, with notice.

What changes for shoppers

The three decisions (Darlings, TK Maxx and Sofology) cover:

  • Darlings of Chelsea is taking Unit G2. The family-owned sofa and bed retailer has agreed a five-year lease on the unit previously occupied by Novia Furniture, which has been empty since Novia left. The council’s report says Darlings wanted to complete by 23 October “to benefit from Christmas trade”. It would be the firm’s fifth showroom, after Parsons Green, Birmingham, Surrey and Hertford.
  • TK Maxx is staying. Its lease on Unit C ran out in September 2025. The council has agreed a new five-year lease, which both sides can end from September 2029.
  • Sofology is staying. Its lease on Unit A ran out in March 2026. It also has a new five-year lease, and the council can serve 12 months’ notice from September 2029.

The rents are in exempt appendices and have not been published.

Why the council moved quickly on the empty unit

The lease on the unit came back to the council on 28 August 2026. The report says an empty unit would have cost the council about £85,000 a year in business rates from the end of November, plus about £14,000 a year in service charge.

Officers decided against a full marketing campaign. The report says the short lease, with the council able to end it from 2029, would put off most national chains, and Darlings agreed terms quickly “at a higher rent than Novia were paying”.

Darlings negotiated its own right to leave in September 2029 too. The report says that was added after the firm learned about TfL’s two-year works on the A41 Brent Cross flyover, which has cut traffic to one lane each way. The council’s report expects “disruption and longer journey times in the area” that could hurt trade.

What it means for you

If you shop at Brent South, nothing is closing because of the regeneration before autumn 2029, on the council’s current timetable. The earliest break date in all three leases is 29 September 2029.

We could not confirm today whether the Darlings showroom has opened. Its website does not list a Brent Cross branch yet. We are asking the company for its opening date and will update this story.

If you are driving to the park, allow extra time while the Brent Cross flyover works continue.