4 Sep 2014 07:00
04 September 2014
Urban&Civic plc
("Urban&Civic" or the "Company")
URBAN&CIVIC SELECTED AS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER FOR 6,500 HOME DEVELOPMENT NEAR CAMBRIDGE
Urban&Civic announces that it has been selected by the Ministry of Defence, via the Defence Infrastructure Organisation ("DIO"), to promote a significant new residential settlement on the site of the former RAF barracks at Waterbeach on the outskirts of Cambridge.
Urban & Civic will act as development manager to bring forward a proposed settlement of 6,500 sustainable new homes across 716 acres at Waterbeach, which is designated in planning terms as "previously used" or "brownfield" land.
The development management agreement means that Urban&Civic will progress the scheme through the planning system before funding and constructing necessary development infrastructure, and managing the disposal of 'oven ready' land to housebuilders.
Urban&Civic will also construct 35 per cent of the new homes at the development, and will benefit from any value uplift on land sales after costs. The current expectation is for an outline planning application to be submitted within 24 months.
Urban&Civic intends to focus on providing some homes for the private rented sector to maximise early absorption and quickly establish a viable resident community. The resulting income-producing investments will be retained by the Company, in line with its strategy.
Urban & Civic chairman Nigel Hugill said: "The development at Waterbeach represents properly joined-up national thinking. It involves public brownfield land being released by a major Government ministry for value enhancing development that anticipates and facilitates change in one of the most innovative and creative locations in the UK, whilst returning substantial proceeds to the taxpayer in the process.
"For our own part, to be selected without consortium partners and so soon after public listing speaks unequivocally to what Urban&Civic can achieve. The core strengths of the enlarged business rest on creating places that work and values that appreciate.
"Building upon pro-active governance, exemplified by the recent City Deal that promises £1 billion of new capital investment into the Cambridge sub region, prodigious local economic drivers and a wonderful landscape courtesy of the Royal Engineers, Waterbeach can grow to be the youthful, vital community that defines Silicon Fen."
Waterbeach Barracks lies within the boundary of South Cambridgeshire District Council, which is in the process of preparing a new Local Plan to cover the period 2011- 2031. The proposed Local Plan allocates the Barracks, together with adjoining farmland to the north and east, as a new settlement.
The major new community, which is being masterplanned by architect Fletcher Priest, is located close to heritage and environmental assets such as Denny Abbey and Wicken Fen, three miles from Cambridge's world-renowned science and technology parks and close to the new North Cambridge and existing Waterbeach railway stations.
Detailed micro analysis commissioned by Urban&Civic as part of the OJEU procurement process has demonstrated that the Cambridge housing market has more similarities with London than anywhere else in the UK. In particular, Cambridge ranks especially high on the relationship between employment growth and well positioned private rental accommodation. The proportion of managerial households renting privately in Cambridge is exceeded only by nine London boroughs and St Albans. Moreover, employment in Cambridge, driven by life sciences in the south and technology, information and communications clusters to the north of the city centre, is growing at a record rate.
Wendy Ivess Mash, DIO Head of Acquisition and Disposals, said: "DIO is very pleased to announce the selection of Urban & Civic as our Development Manager at Waterbeach Barracks. This appointment is the culmination of a robust, yet efficient, OJEU delivery process which has seen a preferred party selected within seven months."
Enquiries:
Urban&Civic plc
Nigel Hugill, Executive Chairman
Tel: +44 (0)20 7569 1600
FTI Consulting
Stephanie Highett
Giles Barrie
Nick Taylor
Tel: +44 (0)20 3727 1000