The City of London Corporation and GLA have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to relocate both historic wholesale markets at Albert Island next to City Airport in Newham.

The ambitious plans now hinge on Parliamentary approval to formally end trading at the current sites in 2028 and planning consent from Newham Council.

Talks will now start with potential delivery partners to detail how both markets will be incorporated on the Royal Docks site, including funding, viability, construction sequencing at Albert Island.

The relocation unlocks two of London’s most sought-after redevelopment opportunities.

Subject to the Bill passing, the grade II-listed halls of the Smithfield meat market site in central London will be turned into an international cultural and commercial hub alongside the London Museum.

Billingsgate’s Canary Wharf-side fish market site will also be transformed, delivering around 4,000 new homes and a new pedestrian and cycle bridge.

Alongside developing these two London sites, the City Corporation is also working with Barking & Dagenham on future plans for the 42-acre Barking Reach site, previously earmarked for the combined markets.

The riverside location is seen as a prime logistics base with access to international supply chains via the Thames Estuary Gateway. Further details will be shared as discussions with developers progress.

The proposed Albert Island site has permission for around 750,000 sq ft of development and a new boatyard.

New Billingsgate and New Smithfield will also feature a major food school, offering accredited training for butchers, fishmongers, fruiterers and apprentices.

City of London Corporation policy chairman Chris Hayward said: “We are investing in London’s future. Redeveloping the current market sites will contribute billions of pounds in economic growth, thousands of new jobs and thousands of new homes.”

City Hall’s intervention draws a line under one of Westminster’s most fiercely contested student housing disputes and finally clears the way for construction to start.

The £147m scheme on a Travis Perkins builders’ merchant site had been repeatedly blocked by councillors who claimed the twin-tower block would cause unacceptable light loss and harm nearby conservation areas.

Labour and Tory members united to brand the plans “excessive”, warning the 20-storey massing would create a canyon effect across Paddington Basin.

But deputy mayor Jules Pipe ruled the now extensively redesigned project met the London Plan “when read as a whole”, arguing the student beds, canal-side upgrades and economic benefits outweigh the acknowledged design impacts.

City Hall also highlighted London’s surging demand for student housing, with at least 3,500 new beds needed every year to avoid piling more pressure on mainstream homes.

The green light allows Unite to demolish the current depot at 149–157 Harrow Road and deliver two linked towers containing 605 rooms above a reprovided Travis Perkins operation at ground and mezzanine level.

The scheme also brings a new public path along the Grand Union Canal, mooring improvements, canal-side landscaping, a walkway beneath Bishops Bridge Road and a retained historic gable end.

Backed by Yoo Capital, the plans includes a studio campus boasting visual-effects, animation and post-production facilities. A pair of major film schools – the National Film and Television School and the London Screen Academy – will also open new education hubs as part of the scheme.

If planning is granted, around 1,370 construction jobs will be created over the three-year build.

Partner social housing developer Places for People has also submitted its own application to deliver 485 homes next to the new studios.

PfP group managing director of developments Andrew Usher said the Camden Film Quarter would be a landmark project and the next step in its placemaking work.

Yoo Capital co-founder Lloyd Lee added that the aim was to build “a neighbourhood where world-class studios, 50% affordable homes and public spaces sit side by side to inspire the next generation”.

Architect Broadway Malyan is leading design work for the residential sites, with a brief to create an ambitious new quarter that reflects local character and delivers real social value.

Turner & Townsend has been appointed by Camden Council as client representative for the regeneration. The firm will develop the council’s requirements for replacement facilities on the site and oversee project management, cost monitoring and design assurance.