Join us to‍

Build Harlow's

Future.

A message from the Leader of the Council

Building Harlow’s Future: A Bold Investment in Growth, Innovation and Place

Harlow is on the cusp of transformation—emerging as the UK’s fastest growing area of the next decade. Superbly connected to London, Stansted and Cambridge at the heart of the UK Innovation Corridor, Harlow offers an unrivalled opportunity to invest in a town redefining itself as a leading 21st century Garden Town.

With over £1.3 billion in infrastructure and regeneration funding identified, Harlow is delivering ambitious change—revitalising its town centre, unlocking strategic development sites, and embracing sustainable, inclusive growth. Backed by proactive civic leadership and a strong track record of public and private sector collaboration, Harlow is ready to partner with investors who want to shape the future of place, prosperity and innovation.

Explore the full investment prospectus to discover why now is the time to Build Harlow’s future.

Download Investment Prospectus 2025

Cllr Dan Swords
Leader of the Council

Harlow at a Glance – A Town on the Rise

Facts powering growth, investment and transformation

23,000 new homes planned over the next 20 years — 16,000 to be delivered in the next decade

50% projected population growth, from 93,000 to around 140,000 across Harlow and Gilston

23,000 new jobs expected by 2045 — a 50% increase in employment opportunities

£2 billion annual GVA, driven by 3,300 businesses supporting 44,000 jobs

£20m Levelling Up Fund to transform the Playhouse Quarter and College Square into a cultural destination

£23.7m Towns Fund investment unlocking major town centre regeneration including a new bus station

£171m Government Housing Investment Grant (HIG) to accelerate infrastructure delivery and unlock Garden Town growth

£1.5 billion New Hospital and Health Campus to support world-class healthcare and life sciences innovation

£76 million invested in new M11 Junction 7A and surrounding infrastructure, boosting connectivity and growth

£20 million Plan For Neighbourhoods to transform local communities over the next 10 years

Harlow Council leading from the front with strategic property acquisitions to drive town centre regeneration

£25 million private investment by David Lloyd Leisure into a state-of-the-art health and wellness club at Newhall

IKEA's arrival in Harlow, introducing a new compact-format store in a former Homebase location, enhancing local retail offerings and creating new jobs

About Harlow

Harlow was a mark one post-war New Town commissioned in 1947 which is now home to around 40,000 homes and 100,000 residents.

The town is served by two motorway junctions on the M11, providing access to London and Cambridge and the M25 leading to the UK’s wider motorway network. Two railway stations serve Harlow, both of which travel to London Liverpool Street station (30 mins), Oxford Circus (45 mins) and Cambridge Station (40 mins) with six trains to London per hour. London Stansted Airport, a central transport hub serving 28 million passengers each year and employing over 10,000 people, is located 10 miles north of Harlow and is just one stop (or 19 minutes) away via an express train.

Harlow is the biggest social housing landlord per capita in the East of England with 9,200 tenanted properties and a further 2,500 leasehold properties making c.30% of the town social housing.

Following an LGA Corporate Peer Challenge and follow up review, the council was named the second most improved council in the UK in the Local Government Chronicle Awards 2024.

The area was designated as a Garden Town project by the Government in 2017 (Harlow and Gilston Garden Town) to deliver sustainable and inclusive growth and regeneration for new and existing communities. This project will see at least 23,000 new homes and 20,000 new jobs which makes Harlow the fastest growing place in the country – growing twice as fast as Oxford and five times faster than Manchester. When fully delivered, Harlow will be bigger than Cambridge, Exeter and Guildford. The town’s rebirth is being led by truly pioneering infrastructure such as the country’s first comprehensive Sustainable Transport Corridor network.

In the last three years, the council has secured over £63 million of Government funding for direct delivery of town centre regeneration as well as hundreds of millions of private sector investment. This means that the town centre is now under construction to be comprehensively rebuilt with a new Arts and Cultural Quarter, Sustainable Transport Interchange, and new market square and public realm upgrades.

In 2023, the council created the Harlow Regeneration Partnership with Hill Group (the UK’s number one housebuilder) as a delivery vehicle for major neighbourhood renewal, thousands of new homes and the new town centre.

The town is home to the Harlow Innovation Park and Enterprise Zone area which has attracted billions of pounds of investment resulting in Harlow being named as the number one tech hub location in the UK and the town being home to the UK’s most powerful supercomputer and the world leading Kao Data.

Where Connectivity meets Opportunity

Grow your investment in Harlow

Harlow is embarking on a once-in-a-generation transformation — and we’re inviting ambitious investors and development partners to be part of the story.

Being the fastest growing town in the UK, with bold regeneration plans, and billions already secured in public and private investment, Harlow offers an unrivalled opportunity to shape the future of a pioneering New Town evolving into a dynamic 21st century Garden Town.

Download Investment Prospectus 2025