Land & New Homes
News focusing on new homes, housing development, land acquisition and joint venture projects between agents and developers.
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Minister gives £1.2bn starter homes scheme green light
A scheme outlined a year ago while David Cameron was still in power that enables first time buyers to purchase discounted starter homes has been given the green light by housing minister Gavin Barwell (pictured). He told Sky News yesterday that up to 500 brownfield sites within 30 local authorities will create up to 30,000 new homes during the current parliament, funded via a £1.2 billion Starter Homes Land Fund. The sites will include several town centres and, the government says, will support wider regeneration and growth of local areas. Barwell says construction will “start quickly” and that planning permission for the sites will be streamlined, simplified and therefore much less expensive than for normal developments, enabling the properties to be sold ‘at least’ 20% below market value. The homes will only be available to first time buyers between 23 and 40 years old and the scheme only applies to properties selling for a maximum of £250,000 outside London and £450,000 within the capital. Each of the 30 local authorities (see list below) has been selected because, the government believes, they can implement the new scheme the fastest. Authorities must now identify potential brownfield sites working in partnership with the…
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The Bringey wins ‘Best Small Development’
A stunning small development, ‘The Bringey’, currently being marketed by Beresfords estate agents, has been judged the best small development in the UK at the Premier Guarantee Excellence Awards.
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Connells markets luxury development in Great Barr
Connells in Great Barr is marketing the magnificent ‘The Red House’ development in Great Barr, Birmingham.
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Investor market specialist Knight Knox starts 70th buy-to-let scheme
Knight Knox, provider of buy-to-let developments to the private investor market – has launched its 70th development.
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Going green in Kent
The regeneration of land and properties owned by The Bay Trust in St Margaret’s at Cliffe, in Kent will create 14 eco-friendly homes in the village.
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64% don’t want to live near a fracking site
A new survey reveals that over 64 per cent of Britons would be reluctant to buy a home near a fracking site…
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New homes in Hackney
Working with Hackney Council on the regeneration of the Colville Estate, residential developer Anthology is delivering 198 new homes in Hoxton, London.
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Cells to be sold as Holloway closes
Holloway is close to being sold by the government for a potential £2 billion housing development.
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Retirement housing back to “normal trading conditions”
Retirement housing builder McCarthy & Stone says demand for its homes increased by 10% during its most recent financial year and that most every aspect of its business is performing well including revenue, completions, average selling price and profits. The company built 2,299 homes between August 2015 and August 2016, a 20% increase on the previous financial year, while its average selling price increased by 8% and its gross profits increased by 15%. It’s been a good year for the company overall. It it was re-admitted to the FTSE 250 in March this year after leaving the Stock Exchange in 2006 and later experiencing difficulties during the financial crisis. In 2013 it was sold to Goldman Sachs and private equity group TPG by its banker Lloyds following an earlier debt-for-equity deal. Financial matters could not be more different now. It currently has a land bank of 10,186 plots, plans to build 3,000 homes this financial year and £52.8m in the bank compared to £44.4m of debt the year before. Despite the improved position, McCarthy & Stone says its order book is down by 13% and although it blames this drop on the EU Referendum, the company says it has seen…
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New Garden Town to be built in Kent
Housing Minister Gavin Barwell today announced that Kent is to get a new garden town in addition to similar projects already planned in Bicester, Didcot, Basingstoke, Essex and Northamptonshire. Outline plans revealed in May this year by Shepway District Council and Folkestone Racecourse, which owns the land to the west of Folkestone, are to get official backing. The new town will include seven primary schools and three secondary schools as well as several doctor’s surgeries. The site, called Otterpool Park, will create some 12,000 homes for approximately 29,000 people although local agents will be waiting a long time to get in on the act. The town is not scheduled for completion until 2046 and may face several hurdles including a well-organised and vociferous local campaign against the project, which will swallow up three villages. The new town is part of a three-pronged policy announced today to achieve the government’s aim to build an additional million homes by 2020. It includes an £18 million fund to help councils tackle planning logjams on behalf of builders, and the creation of six new Housing Zones to encourage 10,000 new properties on brownfield sites. These are to be in Sheffield in South Yorkshire, Grimsby and Cleethorpes in…
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