Inland Homes plc, the brownfield developer, housebuilder and regeneration specialist focused on the South and South East of England, today announces the sale, via its joint venture, Cheshunt Lakeside Developments Limited (“CLDL”), of Phase 1B at Cheshunt Lakeside, Cheshunt.

The Group is also pleased to announce that is has received a resolution to grant planning permission on behalf of the project investors for 131 homes at Thames Road, Barking. 

Cheshunt Lakeside, Cheshunt

The sale of land known as Phase 1B at Cheshunt Lakeside by CLDL comprises 205 plots to a leading build to rent operator, London BTR Investments (London BTR). The sale of the land led to a build contract for 205 homes to Inland Partnerships, the construction division of the Group. The combined value of the sale is £56.4m.

The proceeds from the land sale were used to reduce the joint venture company’s borrowings and the build contract has increased the forward order book for partnership housing to £219.7m. The Group now has 1,513 homes under construction on behalf of its partners.

Planning consent for a new urban village at Cheshunt Lakeside was achieved in 2019, with approval granted for 1,725 new homes, as well as significant commercial space and associated infrastructure. The Group has 422 homes under construction at this site. This comprises the 205 homes within Phase 1B, together with 195 homes being built on behalf of a local housing association and 22 homes be offered for private sale.

The build contract with London BTR is the second for the Group. The Group, acting on behalf of the project investors, sold 355 private homes within the former Homebase in Walthamstow to the Build to Rent operator in 2021 and simultaneously secured a £88.9m build contract for Inland Partnerships to construct the homes.

Thames Road, Barking

The Group also announces that it has received a resolution to grant planning permission, subject to the signing of a Section 106 agreement, for a residentially led, mixed-use scheme of 131 homes and c. 2,000 sqm of commercial space at Thames Road, Barking. The Group aims to finalise the Section 106 agreement within the next two months.

Twenty per cent of the 131 homes will be affordable homes and the proposed plans also include significant improvements to the public realm along Radford Way.

Thames Road is one of the Group’s six asset management projects. These projects are funded by third-party investors who benefit from Inland Homes’ skills and expertise in land acquisition and achieving planning consent. The projects are ‘capital light’ for the Group, with fees received as project milestones are achieved. Once planning consent is achieved, the Group proposes and manages the sale of the asset on behalf of the investors, which, in turn, may lead to the award of a contract to Inland Partnerships for the delivery of homes.

The site is an attractive location for Build to Rent operators and housing associations and is the third scheme Inland Homes has received approval for in the Borough. The Group, through Inland Partnerships, is delivering 325 units at Merrielands on behalf of Clarion Housing Group and received planning approval last year for 380 homes at Dagenham Dock, Dagenham.  A decision on a fourth scheme for which a planning application has been submitted is anticipated in the second quarter of 2022.

Chief Executive Stephen Wicks commented: “We are delighted to announce the land and build sale at Cheshunt Lakeside, as well as the granting of the planning permission at Thames Road, Barking.

“These projects demonstrate how the Group is continuing to make further tangible progress in the delivery of our strategic objectives – reducing our net debt and growing both our partnership housing and asset management areas of the business.”