Government land sell-off to boost housebuilding

A sell-off of publicly-owned land could create work on up to 100,000 new homes in the next four years, according to fresh government plans.

A list of “accelerated sites” to be sold over the next two years has been published today by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), allowing 3,000 extra new homes to start on site over the next four years.

The HCA’s new “development and land disposal strategy”, which could eventually net up to £10bn, also outlines an additional 8,000 new homes to be built during the next four years, with further work on identifying the sites for sale now taking place.

As hinted in the recent Budget, some of the land sales, which include government offices, former hospitals and MoD land, will be offered to developers on a “buy now, pay later” scheme in order to signficantly improve housebuilders’ cash flows. This method will be decided on a case-by-case basis.

“Use of deferred payment can unlock viability on marginal sites and can help the developer to manage its risk and reduce the amount of capital tied up in the project prior to homes being sold,” the HCA said.

The HCA holds 7,438ha of land suitable for building with a value of £690m. The Midlands tops the list with 2,603ha (35% of the total), followed by the east/south-east regions (2.08ha/28%) and the north-west (1,433ha/19%).

Sites include the 42ha Forge Farm site in Crawley which has planning permission for 1,900 homes, plus retail space, a school and community centre; a 43ha former hopsital site (Barnsley Hall) in Bromsgrove; and the 101ha former Runwell Hospital in Chelmsford.

For full details of the land sell-off strategy and list of sites, click on the link on the right.