Barnet Council is formally closing the Hendon Hub scheme on The Burroughs. Middlesex University withdrew in 2024, and Cabinet is due to decide on 15 December.
Barnet Council is closing down the Hendon Hub, the regeneration scheme for The Burroughs it approved in July 2021. Middlesex University, the scheme’s main tenant, withdrew in summer 2024, and the council now says the plan cannot go ahead.
The decision is set out in a report to the council’s Finance and Growth Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Committee on Thursday 12 November. (Barnet Council, Closedown of Hendon Hub Programme) The council’s forward plan lists the formal decision for Cabinet on 15 December 2026, in the name of council leader Barry Rawlings. (Barnet Council, Cabinet Forward Plan)
The report is blunt about what this means. “The new homes, public realm improvements and community facilities originally envisaged through the programme will not be delivered,” it says.
What the Hendon Hub was meant to be
The scheme covered council land around Hendon Town Hall. The report lists the main sites as:
- the Ravensfield, Fenella and Town Hall car park sites
- the Meritage Centre
- Building 9, which includes Hendon Library
- smaller holdings including Fuller Street car park, the former PDSA building, homes on the Prince of Wales Estate and the Quinta Club site
The plans included student housing and teaching space for the university, affordable homes, care accommodation and community space. They rested on a 40-year agreement for lease with Middlesex University, signed on 2 September 2021. The report calls the university’s rent “the principal occupier and income stream” behind the whole business case.
How it fell apart
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| June 2019 | Strategic Outline Case approved |
| October 2020 | Outline Business Case approved |
| First half of 2021 | 14-week public consultation |
| July 2021 | Cabinet approves the Full Business Case |
| 2 September 2021 | Agreement for lease signed with Middlesex University |
| January 2022 | Resolution to grant planning permission |
| July 2023 | Revised application keeps Hendon Library in its building |
| Summer 2024 | Middlesex University says it will withdraw |
| 10 December 2024 | Revised scheme gets planning permission |
| 10 June 2025 | Deadline for the lease conditions passes with some unmet |
| 15 December 2026 | Cabinet due to close the programme |
Source: Closedown of Hendon Hub Programme report and the Cabinet Forward Plan.
The university’s withdrawal followed a review of its estate. The report says it decided to “consolidate activity within its existing estate and reduce its leasehold footprint” to cut running costs. The report separates this from the university’s existing leases of council buildings, which it says are unaffected.
After the university pulled out, officers paused the scheme and drew up a new draft business case in the first half of 2025. That draft favoured a housing-led plan of about 200 mixed-tenure homes on the Ravensfield, Fenella and Town Hall car park sites. It was never finalised or approved by Cabinet.
Since then, the report says, the council’s finances and priorities have “evolved significantly”. Going on would expose it to “disproportionate financial, reputational and delivery risk”.
What it cost is being kept private
The report does not say how much the council spent on the Hendon Hub. All the figures sit in a confidential appendix. What it does say is that the council will keep paying the financing costs on the money it borrowed for the scheme. Any future sale of the sites could be used to pay that borrowing off.
It also says the value of what the council keeps “should not be regarded as offsetting the full historic cost of the programme”.
To assemble the land, the council bought seven properties between 2020 and 2024:
- 36 Church End and 6 Church Terrace in 2020/21
- 21 Prince of Wales Road, 3 Egerton Gardens and 34 Church End in 2022/23
- 14 Prince of Wales Road and 32 Church End in 2023/24
The report says some of these are still in operational, residential or care use.
What happens to the library and the sites
Hendon Library stays where it is. The report says closing the programme supports “the continued operation of Hendon Library”. The council dropped plans to move the library after the change of administration in May 2022. A revised planning application in July 2023 kept it in its own building.
Nothing has been decided about the land. The council’s head of estates will review all its property in the former scheme area. Any sale, lease or new development would need a separate decision, and the report says that would come with further engagement where appropriate.
The Quinta Club site has already gone a different way. It has been listed as an Asset of Community Value and marketed for sale.
The council will also run a “lessons learned” review. It will look at partnership arrangements, financial checks, governance and risk management on the scheme.
What it means for you
- If you use Hendon Library, nothing changes. The library stays open in its current building.
- If you live near The Burroughs, the large blocks consulted on in 2021 will not be built. The report notes that residents raised concerns at the time about the scale of the buildings, the amount of student housing and the effect on the area’s historic character.
- If you want a say, the Finance and Growth Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Committee meets at 7pm on Thursday 12 November in Committee Room 1 at Hendon Town Hall. (Agenda) Cabinet takes the decision on 15 December.
Anything that does come forward on the sites will need a planning application. You can track those through our Barnet planning applications page.
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