A thousand homes could be built at tube stations in Barnet in a bid to ease the capital’s housing shortage.

Major developments are being planned at Finchley Central and High Barnet stations to provide housing, commercial space, improvements to the public realm and better connections for pedestrians.

Drawn up by Transport for London (TfL), the proposals involve building 650 homes in Finchley Central and up to 350 in High Barnet – 40 per cent of which would be classed as affordable.

TfL pledged to keep the stations open during construction and said building on the brownfield sites would ease pressure on green belt development.

The proposals, which are still in the early stages of development, are being put to a public consultation and will need to be rubber-stamped by the council’s planning committee before work can begin.

MP for Finchley and Golders Green Mike Freer has already called for the Finchley Central plans to be rejected in their current form.

He said: “It is a massive over-development of the area that removes all the vital commuter parking that is currently available.”

But a TfL spokesman said no decisions had yet been made about the site and it would take on board the views of the community.

According to Barnet Council, the Finchley Central development will bring an estimated £240 million of investment into the borough and help revitalise the town centre.

The council launched a town centre strategy for Finchley Central in 2017, which identified the station as a key development opportunity.

It says the area is in need of better civic spaces, support for employment clusters and improved pedestrian and cycling routes.

The council secured £9.8 million of investment from the Government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund to support the first phase of the station development.

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TfL has selected construction firm Taylor Wimpey to work on the two developments.

Graeme Craig, director of commercial development at TfL, said: “We are starting to engage with the local community and stakeholders as we develop our proposals for these sites.

“Alongside homes that the capital desperately needs, we are also seeking to bring forward new commercial space, improvements to the public realm and better connections for pedestrians.

“Through this we will also bring vital revenue into TfL for investment in further improving transport.”

TfL is holding information sessions on the plans over the next few days as part of a six-month period of community engagement.

More information about the High Barnet scheme will be available at High Barnet Underground Station on Friday, June 14 from 2pm to 8pm, and Saturday, June 15 from 10am to 4pm.

A public exhibition on the Finchley Central plans will be held at Finchley Central Station car park on Sunday, June 16 from 2pm to 6pm and Monday, June 17 from 2pm to 9pm.