Regeneration specialist Harworth completes £8.4m of residential land sales

Harworth Group plc, the land regeneration and property investment firm, has completed the sale of a parcel of land for residential development at its Prince of Wales development in Pontefract, West Yorkshire.

The group has also unconditionally exchanged contracts for a further residential land sale at its Simpsons Park development in North Nottinghamshire.

The total consideration of the two sales is £8.4m.

At the 917-home Prince of Wales development, Harworth sold 5.34 net acres to Avant Homes, with reserved matters planning consent secured from Wakefield Council to build 83 two, three and four bedroom homes.

This sale represents Avant’s second land purchase at Prince of Wales, following its acquisition of 11 acres in December 2014 where it has subsequently delivered 131 three and four bedroom family homes.

As for the 107-acre former Harworth Colliery site at Simpsons Park, Harworth has unconditionally exchanged contracts for the sale of eight net acres of land to Kier Living, where it plans to build 125 two, three and four bedroom homes over the next two years.

This also represents the second phase of development at the site, following Jones Homes’ delivery of 118 homes since 2015.

Preparation works for this development phase were part-funded by a £4m Homes England loan, following the designation of Simpsons Park as a Government-backed ‘Housing Zone’ site in 2015.

The loan is also funding on and off-site infrastructure works to support future plot delivery on the remainder of the scheme which is consented for the delivery of 1,500 homes in total, representing one of the largest brownfield regeneration schemes in the Midlands.

Phil Wilson, managing director of Capital Growth at Harworth, said: “These transactions provide further evidence of the underlying strength of the residential market in the regions in which we operate in, as well as the significant progress we continue to make at two of our major developments.

“Avant Homes’ decision to purchase a second land parcel from us at Prince of Wales proves both the strength of the development as a residential location and the popularity of their product with local people.

“I am also pleased to welcome Kier Living as a new customer and would like to thank Homes England for providing the loan to allow the next phase of land at Simpsons Park to be brought forward.

“There remains a continued and well-publicised lack of housing land supply in the regions to meet the needs of a growing population, presenting an opportunity for us to leverage our market-leading masterplanning and technical expertise to both deliver land that helps to meet this shortage whilst also realising further value for the business.”

Rob Slocombe, managing director of Avant Homes Yorkshire, added: “As we continue to further accelerate the company’s ambitious growth plans we are very pleased to have agreed a deal with Harworth Group to purchase a second piece of land at the former Prince of Wales colliery in Pontefract.

We were the first homebuilder to be selected as part of this exciting project in 2015 and this further acquisition demonstrates our continued commitment to the area and the ongoing development of the site.“

Sue Warwick, operations director of Kier Living Northern, also commented: “We are delighted to be part of this exciting venture and working with Harworth Group in the delivery of good quality homes in a part of the country with an increasingly strong residential market.”