Barnet Council plans up to 20 social rent homes on the old East Barnet Library site in Brookhill Road. Cabinet takes a key legal step on 17 November.

Barnet Council wants to build up to 20 social rent homes on the former East Barnet Library site at 85 Brookhill Road. Cabinet is asked on Tuesday 17 November to take a legal step that clears the way for building, if planning permission is granted.

The report, from deputy leader Ross Houston, says a planning application is expected “later this year”. (Barnet Council, East Barnet Library Site report, Cabinet 17 November 2026)

What is planned

The homes would be built by Zed Pods, a modular housing firm. The council picked it after a tender, following Cabinet’s approval of the procurement in May 2024. The report says the homes would be:

  • for social rent
  • mostly built off site, with more than 60% of the work done in a factory
  • rated EPC A as a minimum, with air source heat pumps and solar panels
  • net zero carbon for regulated energy use, and equal overall to the Passivhaus standard

East Barnet is one of four council sites in what the council calls its Small Sites Modular Programme. Together they are expected to provide about 30 to 40 social rent homes, subject to planning. The other three are:

  • the Nightingale Nursery site, 23 Victoria Road, EN4 9PH
  • Whetstone Close, NW9 7HP
  • Reets Farm Close, N20 9EX

Design work on all four is under way.

What Cabinet is being asked to do

Cabinet is asked to “appropriate” the land for planning purposes. In plain terms, the council changes the legal reason it holds the land.

Once that is done and planning permission is granted, the council can use section 203 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016. That lets it override easements, restrictive covenants and other rights over the land that could otherwise hold up building. Anyone whose rights are affected could claim compensation from the council instead of stopping the work.

The report says this avoids “the risk of injunctions that could otherwise delay or prevent implementation”. It says the council will consult locally to find any such rights.

A youth charity will have to move

The building is used for now by the Young Barnet Foundation, a charity that supports activities for children and young people across the borough. The report says the arrangement was always meant to be temporary.

If planning permission is granted, the charity would have to leave so that building can start by March 2027 at the latest. The council says that date matters because the scheme must start on site then to keep its eligibility for City Hall affordable housing funding. The report says the council is working with the charity to find somewhere else, “ideally securing a long-term home” for it.

What it means for you

  • If you live near Brookhill Road, look out for a planning application on the site. A consultation plan is being drawn up with Zed Pods, and the report promises community workshops and public events as the designs develop. You can follow applications on our Barnet planning applications page.
  • If you have a right of way or another legal interest over the land, the council says it will be in touch to identify it. Any loss of those rights would carry a right to compensation.
  • If you are on the housing register, these would be council-owned social rent homes. The report says they would help reduce the borough’s reliance on temporary accommodation.

Cabinet meets at 7pm on Tuesday 17 November at Hendon Town Hall. (Agenda)