Lord's gets planning permission to increase capacity to 31,000

Lord’s will increase its capacity by 2,500 seats to 31,000 after it was granted planning permission by Westminster Council to revamp the Compton and Edrich Stands.

Work will start on Aug 24 after the World Cup and Ashes series are over with seats expected to be ready for use in 2020 and the new stands fully opened and operational by the following summer when Lord’s will host the inaugural World Test Championship final.

The work is expected to cost in the region of £50 million and will add an extra 2,500 seats to the capacity of the Compton and Edrich Stands, which are used by non-members, and the MCC believes will help satisfy the massive demand for international and Twenty20 tickets.

The work is the next step in the club’s ambitious Masterplan for Lord’s which will not be fully complete for another 13 years.

The new Compton and Edrich stands will include three tiers and the promise of better lines of sight for those sitting on the ground floor, with some currently having an obscured view. New toilet facilities and improved catering outlets will also be part of the Compton-Edrich rebuild and the provision of wheelchair-accessible spaces on all levels.

The MCC already has a five-year planning agreement from Westminster Council to begin the third phase of its Masterplan which will see the rebuilding of the Tavern and Allen Stands as well as the Tavern pub. Work is not due to begin until 2027. The Masterplan was held up by years of wrangling over the financing of the whole project. The club’s members last year finally rejected proposals to fund the work by building residential developments at the Nursery End of the ground worth £150m, the freehold to which is held by the Rifkind Partnership.

Instead, the club believes it can pay for the work from its own funds and bank loans as well as continuing to sell out Lord’s for major matches and the new Hundred competition.

The new Compton-Edrich Stands will be built by architects WilkinsonEyre who are currently working on the Battersea Power Station refit.