Oxford Street has now entered its delivery decade.
As of 1 January 2026, the Oxford Street Development Corporation is operational as a statutory Mayoral Development Corporation under the Localism Act 2011, formally ending the vision and consultation era and activating one of London’s most tightly governed regeneration programmes. The creation of the Oxford Street Mayoral Development Area and the establishment of OSDC as a GLA functional body marks a permanent structural shift in how the West End will be built, managed and controlled for the next generation.
This is no longer a political project. It is now an infrastructure programme.
The £150 million pedestrianisation and public realm transformation is not being delivered through borough-led planning or discretionary regeneration funding. It is being executed through a centralised statutory delivery body with full planning authority, highway control, capital governance, procurement power and enforcement capability. Oxford Street has been converted into a mayoral infrastructure corridor and is now governed as a strategic transport asset.
The transformation programme moves the West End from retail high street management into city-scale infrastructure delivery.
The most important operational shift is the transfer of highway authority.
Oxford Street is now designated as a GLA Road and has been incorporated into the Transport for London Road Network. Control of the carriageway has transferred from Westminster City Council to Transport for London under the Highways Act and Road Traffic Regulation Act. This means all highway occupation, structural maintenance, drainage, servicing strategy, traffic regulation and permitting now operate under Red Route standards.
Oxford Street is no longer a borough street. It is now part of London’s strategic road estate.
For contractors and developers, this changes the operating environment completely. All works now fall under TfL’s network management duty. Permit applications, lane occupation, hoardings, scaffolding, skips, temporary traffic management and logistics routing are now governed through TfL’s TLRN systems. Lane rental regimes apply, network coordination obligations apply and works sequencing is subject to strategic traffic modelling. Any activity that interferes with pedestrianisation delivery timelines is subject to veto under the OSDC Scheme of Delegation.
In parallel, OSDC is assuming full planning authority status for the Mayoral Development Area. Westminster and Camden will cease to be local planning authorities inside the zone once the statutory transfer completes in Spring 2026. Planning decisions will be determined by OSDC’s own Planning Committee and governed by its own Local Plan framework in conformity with the London Plan.
Oxford Street is now being planned as a city asset, not a retail street.
The pedestrianisation zone between Orchard Street and Great Portland Street is being designed as a fully pedestrian-only environment with servicing constrained to a defined midnight to 7am window. Outside this window the corridor becomes a zero-vehicle public realm, including restrictions on cycles, scooters and pedicabs. Emergency access is preserved as a non-negotiable design requirement. North–south permeability across Oxford Street is being retained at key junctions, creating fixed gateway corridors that must remain operational throughout the works programme.
This creates a night-built city.
Construction logistics for Oxford Street will now operate on a compressed nocturnal delivery cycle with freight consolidation, offsite marshalling, remote holding zones and strict kerbside allocation on surrounding streets. The era of daytime flatbed deliveries and casual hoardings is over. Oxford Street is moving to a zero-tolerance operating model.
For site managers, this is a fundamentally different operating environment. Every delivery window is constrained, every hoarding line is politically sensitive, every permit is scrutinised at network level and every delay cascades across TfL’s strategic traffic model.
Oxford Street is becoming one of the most operationally regulated construction corridors in Europe.
The governance structure now in place is designed for institutional delivery rather than political compromise.
The OSDC operates as a statutory commissioning body with its own capital budget inside the GLA Group, governed by its own financial regulations, audit and risk committee, scheme of delegation and contracts and funding code.
The design and delivery architecture is already live and lead public realm design teams have been appointed. Whole Street concept design is underway for the full length of Oxford Street from Marble Arch to Tottenham Court Road.
The programme is now moving through its statutory gateways and the highways and transport consultation closes in January 2026. The OSDC Board approves its 2026–27 capital budget in March and planning authority transfer completes in Spring.
Enabling works and bus diversions commence in the second half of 2026. Phase One public realm construction between Oxford Circus and Orchard Street is expected to mobilise in Q4 2026.
The financial scale is significant. The transformation is a £150 million plus capital programme with early establishment costs already deployed and detailed design funding committed. Major civils and public realm packages will dominate the 2026–27 procurement cycle and will be among the most competitive infrastructure tenders in London.
This is not a regeneration programme. It is a capital infrastructure system. Oxford Street is no longer waiting for transformation. It is now being built and the delivery decade has begun.
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Expert Verification & Authorship: Mihai Chelmus
Founder, London Construction Magazine | Construction Testing & Investigation Specialist |
