New neighbourhood, new school and Kew Gardens upgrades among biggest changes coming to Richmond in 2026
By Charlotte Lillywhite - Local Democracy Reporter 15th Jan 2026
By Charlotte Lillywhite - Local Democracy Reporter 15th Jan 2026
Major regeneration schemes, a new specialist school and the first-ever learning centre at Kew Gardens are among the biggest projects set to hit milestones or completion in Richmond in 2026.
Residents should expect to see plans involving housing, education, leisure and transport come to life, after Richmond Council pressed ahead with them last year.
In his annual message to residents over Christmas, Lib Dem council leader Gareth Roberts celebrated the authority's progress over the past year – including investing £21million to repair and improve roads and pavements, restoring the Teddington Lock footbridges and putting in place a new night-time strategy to support workers and businesses.
Councillor Roberts said: "2025 has been a big year for our borough – a year of investment, a year of delivery and, above all, a year where we've worked to make Richmond upon Thames an even safer, fairer, greener and better place to live."
The council and developers are now looking ahead to 2026 as they prepare to hit milestones and complete major schemes, some of which we have listed below.
Building works to begin at Twickenham Riverside
Construction will begin on the long-awaited regeneration of Twickenham Riverside this year, as demolition works on the site near completion.
The scheme will see derelict land next to the River Thames transformed with 45 new homes, including 50 per cent affordable housing, shops, cafés, restaurants and open space.
The scheme was approved in 2022, after 40 years of uncertainty, and its progress has been described as "painfully slow".
It has also attracted controversy, which was laid bare at a public inquiry into the council's application to acquire land needed to carry out the regeneration in 2023.
Twickenham Riverside Trust was given a 125-year lease on Diamond Jubilee Gardens in 2014 and opposed the council's application to acquire it under a compulsory purchase order (CPO), but it was approved that November.
The council set aside the necessary funds for the project to move to construction in June last year, with the budget now standing at £67.2m. It expects to begin building works on the site in spring, with the scheme due for completion in late 2027.
New school for kids with special educational needs to open
A new school for children with special educational needs will open in September this year, once construction is complete. The centre for the Clarendon School, in Petersham, will provide 77 more specialist places in Richmond so that less children have to travel out of the borough for education.
The school will be managed by the Auriga Academy Trust, which already runs the Clarendon School across three sites in Richmond. It will provide places for primary and secondary pupils with moderate learning difficulties and complex needs.
It will have ten classrooms and four specialist teaching spaces for art, drama, music, food technology and life skills. It will also have therapy rooms, group and breakout spaces, a hall, kitchen and outdoor play and sensory areas.
Major regeneration of Ham Close to hit milestone
The regeneration of Ham Close Estate, in Ham, will continue this year, with the first phase on track for completion in spring. The council approved plans to knock down and rebuild the 192-home estate with 452 new homes in 2022 and construction works began in 2024.
The authority built the estate in the early 1960s but transferred it, along with all other housing stock it owned, to social landlord Richmond Housing Partnership (RHP) in 2000.
The scheme from RHP and developer Hill Residential includes 221 affordable homes, community facilities and green spaces.
Kew Gardens to open first-ever learning centre
Kew Gardens is preparing to open its first-ever learning centre, after construction began last year. The Shafran Learning Centre will improve Kew's educational offer in person and virtually with livestreamed lessons on plant and fungal science.
The centre will have laboratories, lecture theatres, classrooms, a gallery, offices, toilets and a garden once it opens to the public, which is scheduled for October 2026. It will be Kew's first net-zero educational building and purpose-built teaching space.
Early years groups, schools and community groups are among those who will use the centre, which aims to educate people on the climate and nature crises.
It will host weekend science and gardening clubs, creative writing workshops and other events, while providing Kew with more indoor space to expand the short courses it offers in horticulture, botanical art and garden design.
It is replacing the White Peaks café, which shut in 2021 when the Family Kitchen & Shop opened at Kew.
New neighbourhood at Stag Brewery to move forward
Plans to build a new 1,075-home neighbourhood with a secondary school, shops and offices on the banks of the River Thames, in Mortlake, will move ahead this year.
Planning Inspector Glen Rollings approved developer Reselton Properties' controversial £1.3billion scheme for the former Stag Brewery site last year, after a 10-year battle culminating in a public inquiry.
Only 65 out of the 1,075 homes planned for the 22-acre site – the biggest development opportunity in Richmond – are set to be affordable.
The homes will be built in blocks up to nine storeys tall, along with restaurants, shops, offices, a cinema, space for a hotel and a 1,200-place secondary school with a sixth form.
The developer is now working on bringing the scheme forward to construction, although it will take many years to complete.
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