LAND WANTED

Month: July 2019

Planning Submitted Off Barkerhouse Road – Nelson

Stanley Investments has submitted a planning application in partnership with Muir Housing Group and John Turner Construction Group for 20 new homes off Barkerhouse Road in Nelson. The scheme is part funded by Homes England and will be for Affordable Rent.

Chris Curtis, Director at Stanley Investments said, ‘It is fantastic to be working up another scheme for our trusted clients at Muir Housing Group, so soon after the start on site of our latest development with them in July, and we are proud to be partnering with John Turner Construction Group, which will be building this one. John Turner Construction Group has a great pedigree, and we know that build quality will be of the highest standards.’

Alex Fury, Assistant Director at Muir Housing Group said, ‘We are really excited to be bringing forward this development, providing much needed high-quality affordable homes in Nelson. Muir has a long running commitment to the local area and we will be continuing to invest in our communities wherever possible. This scheme is a good example of a strong delivery relationship between Muir and Stanley Investments, proving the value of partnership working for now and the long term.’

Stanley Investments delivers land led package schemes to Registered Providers across the North West and Midlands and Technical Land Due Diligence Consultancy for RP’s seeking to acquire its own land for development.

Faraday Development Ltd v West Berkshire Council

Over recent weeks there has been a re-emergence of the debate amongst colleagues and peers in relation to developer led public sector projects, the case of Faraday Development Ltd v West Berkshire Council (2018), and the implications for developer led land and works package deals.

For developing RP’s proactively engaged in securing individual land led package deals for the delivery of new housing, there should be no debate. If the land is supplied, the scheme specified and substantially determined by the developer delivering the packaged scheme, who then does not determine unilaterally who the build contractor will be, and which is effectively delivered immediately, there is no confirmed demonstrable breach of Public Contracts Regulations.

In practice, this housing delivery method is not dissimilar to an RP securing another key supply of new build housing via a s106 Agreement and retrospectively adjusting the design and specification of that housing by subsequent agreement, a method of delivering affordable housing that has been in place since the Town & Country Planning Act 1990.

Of course, there is mixed use schemes being procured about the country which are much more complex than a straightforward land led package scheme for housing, or an s106 Agreement, and this will always be the case. If a public body introduces its own land to the deal under a Development Agreement with land draw down stages into the future, as in the case of Faraday v West Berkshire, then it is certainly not a straightforward developer land led package deal.

The provision of new build affordable housing schemes must be done properly, whichever the delivery route. Land led package schemes have been around for many years, and now provide a substantial proportion of affordable housing delivery nationally, a proportion we really cannot manage without.

At a time when access to public land for new housing development is at its lowest level ever, whilst affordable housing demand is at its highest, when renting Millennials may never be able to afford any housing accommodation in their later years, it would be a profound breach of our inter-generational duty not to collaborate, to press on and deliver now, that which will be most needed tomorrow.