Major new housing developments on horizon as approvals rise

While the housing market is suffering a slowdown right now, the prospects for major new housing developments have brightened spectacularly in recent months.

Detailed planning approvals for large new housing developments – which are typically in urban areas and involve over 250 homes/flats – were worth £3,952 million in the three months to April, more than double the previous quarter and 79% higher than in the period a year ago.

In towns and cities across the country, the pipeline for major new housing developments has been buoyed up as planners consent to large, higher-density developments, chiefly focused on private sales but often with a significant affordable element and linked to broader regeneration schemes.

Major inner-city schemes

In Norwich, detailed plans have been granted on Weston Homes’ £300 million Anglia Square redevelopment involving almost 1,100 new flats (up to 76% affordable) and up to 8,000 sq m of retail and commercial space. Work on the scheme, which is at the pre-tender stage, is due to start in the next six months (Project ID: 17089533).

An ambitious major private housing project in London is set to get underway at St Johns Square (pictured) north west of the Capital’s central area involving 171 homes (59 affordable) in a £400 million redevelopment of a former barracks site. Tenders are due to be invited during June, and work is set to start early next year and run for over 50 months (Project ID: 08525398).

Meanwhile, in West London, detailed plans have been granted for Reef Estates' huge Fourth Miles mixed-use development at Gunnersbury Avenue with 234 new flats along with retail, hotel, and leisure space. Work on the scheme, involving the demolition of an existing warehouse and almost 93,000 sq m of new space, could start later this year and run for 48 months (Project ID: 19073134).

One of the largest major private inner-city housing schemes in the country currently in the pipeline is De Trafford Estate Group’s £350 million Great Jackson Street development in Manchester. Detailed plans have been granted and tenders are set to be invited within six months for two major residential buildings involving around 1,037 homes together with ground floor commercial space across a total of over 113,000 sq m of space. Work on the project is set to get underway later this summer and run for three years (Project ID: 19129563).

Promising pipeline for major social housing projects

The pipeline for major social housing projects for housing associations in the Capital is also looking promising. In Wembley, Peabody Group has secured detailed planning permission for a £101 million scheme of 474 flats with commercial units at Alperton Waterside where work is set to start towards the end of this year. London Square Developments is the main contractor on the scheme which involves four buildings ranging from 14-23 storeys (Project ID: 18394411).

Further west in the Capital, Peabody Group has also secured detailed planning consent for a £140 million mixed-use redevelopment at The Green, Southall involving 564 flats (50% affordable) together with commercial and community space. Work on the scheme, across almost 3,000 sq m of space, is due to start next year and run for 39 months (Project ID: 19373272).

Meanwhile in nearby South Kilburn, detailed plans have been granted for a £100 million scheme of 219 flats, which prioritize social housing, around a courtyard at Albert Road for the London Borough of Brent. Countryside Properties is the main contractor on the scheme where work is set to start this autumn and run for two years (Project ID: 19034292).

Planning approvals on more conventional major housing developments around Home Counties towns are also boosting the long term construction work pipeline. In Northampton, outline plans have recently been granted for Barratt Homes’ and Persimmon Homes (Midlands)’ £300 million Dallington Grange development involving just over 3,000 homes (35% affordable), along with a school, supermarket and commercial space. Work on the development, which is at the pre-tender stage, and which will run for ten years, is due to start later this year (Project ID: 99370692).