Plan to sell off £500m Hyde Park barracks axed after London terror attacks

Defence chiefs’ proposals to sell off the Household Cavalry’s Hyde Park barracks to a luxury homes developer are set to be scaled back following the terror attacks in London this year.

The Ministry of Defence had hoped to raise up to £500 million through the sale of the 3.5-acre barracks site where 500 officers and troops from the mounted regiment charged with guarding the Queen are based.

However, failure to identify a suitable alternative site within 30 minutes’ ride of Horse Guards Parade has forced a major rethink, according to property sources.

Another factor in the change of heart has been the raising of the terror threat level to the highest category of “critical” this year after the Manchester and Parsons Green attacks.

This meant putting soldiers on the streets to support the police, which would have been a logistical nightmare without access to the barracks.

The source said: “Those events reminded the decision-makers at the MoD about the important contribution of these soldiers to the resilience of London on top of their ceremonial role.”

New emerging plans will see the site, which includes a 450ft frontage along Kensington Road and Knightsbridge, split in two.

The barracks and stabling will remain on one half of the site, leaving just enough space for a smaller number of luxury apartment blocks to be built on the other half. One major logistical hurdle would be how to site some of the stabling below ground level to save space without jeopardising the welfare or safety of the horses.

Discussions between the Government’s Defence Infrastructure Organisation, which is handling the sale, and potential buyers originally started in 2012. The source said: “This looks like a sensible resolution to a problem that could not be overcome. Developers had not been able to come up with a solution that met the demands of the MoD.”

Hyde Park barracks, three quarters of a mile from Buckingham Palace, were first constructed for the Horse Guards in 1795. The current buildings including a 33-storey tower designed by Sir Basil Spence, date from 1970.

The MoD told Property Week: “The MoD is investigating how best to deliver State Ceremonial and Public Duties in London. We are currently conducting detailed assessment studies to determine the best way forward. No decisions have yet been taken on future arrangements.”

Simon Birkett, chairman of the Knightsbridge Neighbourhood Forum, said: “The forum is finalising its neighbourhood plan for formal submission to Westminster City council. The plan will emphasise that the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment is a vital part of the identity of Knightsbridge, alongside the Royal Albert Hall and Harrods, and set out how the community wants any partial, or full, development of the Hyde Park Barracks land to occur.”