Property group buys Enterprise Zone site
Property group Harworth has bought an 88-acre site in Staffordshire as it looks to expand its strategic land bank.
It has paid £2.6m, plus acquisition costs, for the site at Chatterley Valley, which sits within an enterprise zone.
It neighbours a 24-acre site that is already owned by Harworth and together the land benefits from an extant planning consent for 1.2m sq. ft of commercial development, providing a 10-year development pipeline.
The Sheffield-based developer has also announced it has bought a 145-acre site in Coalville, Leicestershire, that has planning consent for 914 residential plots for £11.8m.
The deals have been funded by using some of the £27.1m Harworth raised in an equity placing in March.
Harworth’s chief executive Owen Michaelson said: “Growing and expanding our strategic landbank is fundamental to delivering continued value to our shareholders and both purchases provide clear long-term value adding opportunities.
“The outlook in the Midlands market remains healthy, driven by comparatively low prices, a lack of housing land supply and the scarcity of good quality new commercial units.”
Michaelson expects Harworth to have used the rest of the funds raised in March by its year end and said “good progress has also been made in securing other land and property targets”.
These deals bring the total number of consented residential plots currently under Harworth’s ownership to more than 10,000, alongside 11.2m sq. ft of consented commercial development space.
