The government’s housing accelerator currently owns 135 acres of land at Panshanger Aerodrome in Welwyn Garden City – having consolidated its portfolio when it bought 93 acres of land on the eastern side of the site via Savills in March this year.
Following a competitive tender Homes England has now appointed Savills teams in Cambridge and London to dispose of its entire holdings at Panshanger – driving forward plans for one of the East of England’s largest housing developments with a gross development value of £250m.
The land will be sold in phases, with the initial phase benefitting from outline planning permission for 650 residential dwellings, of which 30% will be affordable, a primary school, traveller pitches, a new community centre and associated access/ landscaping works.
The second phase comprises adjacent green belt land which has been draft allocated for potentially up to 160 dwellings in Welwyn Hatfield’s emerging Local Plan.
Abigail Jones, from the development team at Savills Cambridge, said: “This has been a long term project, with the original sale one of five major land acquisitions by Homes England completed on 31 March against a backdrop of coronavirus and lockdown.
“Being in control of the whole site ensures Homes England can deliver the scheme comprehensively and much more quickly. We are hoping to achieve a conditional exchange on the first parcel of the consented land area by early 2021.
“We are expecting Homes England to act as a master developer to service the site, with the land sold in parcels to various national and SME housebuilders, similar to a number of other Homes England disposals the team have been involved with across the East of England over the past 12 months.”
Panshanger Aerodrome was previously used as a decoy for the De Havilland aviation factory in Hatfield during World War II. It was then later used as a civic airfield for light aircraft.
Alex McKinlay, head of Savills Public Sector Land team, added: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to consolidate our ongoing relationship with Homes England and help secure the delivery of much needed homes on this outstanding site.”
Dan Wheatley, Senior Development Manager at Homes England said: “Panshanger is a great example of how Homes England is focusing its expertise on preparing land for the development of new homes. The site has long been recognised for its potential to deliver homes for Hertfordshire and the wider East of England so we are delighted that we are another step closer to bringing those plans to fruition.
“As a master developer, it’s crucial that we continue to create development opportunities and provide a pipeline of sites for housebuilders of all sizes, despite the challenging situation the industry is facing. The need for new housing will remain a priority, so we will continue to do business with partners across the sector to create opportunities for future development and support the government’s housebuilding objectives.”