IN Brief:
- Latimer and JJ Rhatigan have topped out the 296-home Twyford Park development.
- The scheme includes 70 London Affordable Rent homes and 68 Shared Ownership properties.
- First occupation is expected from spring 2027, with 326 homes planned across the wider site.
Latimer and construction partner JJ Rhatigan have topped out the 296-home Twyford Park development in Ealing, marking completion of the principal structural phase at the historic former abbey site.
The project includes 138 affordable homes, comprising 70 for London Affordable Rent and 68 Shared Ownership properties. A further 158 studios, apartments, and houses are being offered for private sale.
The topping-out ceremony took place on 4 August and brought together representatives from Latimer, JJ Rhatigan, and Ealing Council. Guests completed a ceremonial mortar laying before touring the homes under construction, heritage restoration work, landscaping, marketing suite, and show home.
Twyford Park is being developed within the grounds of the former Twyford Abbey, combining contemporary housing with restoration of historic buildings, established parkland, mature trees, and areas intended to become accessible to the wider community.
Construction continues across homes and landscape
The topping-out milestone confirms that the main structures have reached their highest point, but a substantial programme remains before occupation. The project must progress through envelope completion, internal fit-out, mechanical and electrical installation, testing, commissioning, external works, certification, and phased handover.
Residential completion will depend on coordination between those packages rather than the structural programme alone. Fire-stopping records, acoustic and thermal performance, utility connections, ventilation, heating controls, and building-control evidence must be completed alongside finishes and landscaping.
The development includes one, two, and three-bedroom apartments and three-bedroom houses. Private prices currently begin at £349,950 for a studio, while three-bedroom townhouses are being offered from £935,000.
Shared Ownership homes are due to launch from the site in September. Initial shares will begin at 25%, with advertised deposits starting from £5,250, subject to purchaser eligibility, affordability assessment, property value, and mortgage terms.
The affordable allocation places almost half of the 296-home development outside conventional open-market sale. London Affordable Rent provides lower-cost rented housing, while Shared Ownership enables qualifying purchasers to buy an initial share and pay rent on the remaining interest.
The heritage and landscape packages are integral to the scheme rather than peripheral planning obligations. Work includes restoration of Twyford Abbey’s surviving buildings and landscape, protection of mature trees, new gardens, cycle storage, and a community space.
The 1.2-acre South Lawn is planned to reopen to the public for the first time in decades. Bringing an established historic landscape into public use requires the construction programme to address safe access, drainage, planting establishment, ongoing maintenance, and the relationship between residents and visitors.
The homes will use rooftop solar generation and air-source heat pumps for heating and hot water. Their eventual energy performance will depend on fabric quality, system commissioning, controls, resident use, and maintenance rather than the presence of the equipment alone.
Construction within a heritage setting also carries risks less common on cleared sites. Existing fabric can reveal unrecorded conditions, specialist repairs may require longer procurement periods, and landscape work must be sequenced around heavy construction traffic without damaging retained features.
Latimer and JJ Rhatigan must therefore manage two different forms of completion. The new homes require conventional residential handover, while the restored buildings and parkland must demonstrate that heritage, ecology, access, and community commitments have been delivered as approved.
The main announcement refers to 296 homes within the current development package, while the wider site is expected to provide 326 homes in total. The distinction should be retained rather than presenting all 326 as part of the topped-out phase.
First residents are expected to move in from spring 2027. Before then, sales and Shared Ownership activity will run alongside construction, increasing the need to separate visitors and future purchasers safely from live works and logistics.
The project is also part of Clarion Housing Group’s wider relationship with Ealing Council. Nearby, Clarion is delivering the regeneration of Sherwood Close, which is planned to provide 362 homes, around two-thirds of them affordable.
Twyford Park’s structural milestone is visible, but the harder work now sits across fit-out, commissioning, restoration, and landscape establishment. Its success will be judged on whether 296 homes, affordable tenures, historic fabric, and public green space operate as one neighbourhood rather than parallel elements completed to different standards.
