This Land Cambridge South East Development Property Residential Investment

This Land™, a new development and investment company that ‘is set to transform house building and house buying in the UK’ are focusing their initial developments around Cambridgeshire. The regional economy is one of the fasting growing within the UK, and devolved powers driving further growth it’s clear to see why the area offers great opportunities for This Land™.

We’re at the forefront of the economic growth story in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough – and our Economic Growth Conference is back for its second year with the support of the Combined Authority to bring business and public sector leaders together to continue to collaborate and maximise the growth potential of the region. One of those joining us and 350+ delegates in December will by This Land™ who’re set to share a presentation alongside other housebuilders, investors and major developers on their future schemes. We hear from them ahead of the event:

 

  1. This Land™ is a new development and investment business. How did the business come about?

This Land™ is a newly-created development company that has been set up as a challenger business to the established housebuilding industry, with a clear vision and ethos to offer a fresh, innovative and customer-led approach to the creation of desirable new homes and neighbourhoods across Cambridgeshire and in due course, replicating the model more widely across the UK.

 

  1. You say you’re looking to transform house building and house buying in the UK – how are you planning to do that?

By focussed primarily on customer satisfaction and building long-term positive relationships both with our customers and also with the communities that we become part of, rather than simply building and selling homes and then moving on to the next project.

We approach development from the customer perspective, pursuing a carefully-tailored approach to each of our development sites, enabling us to build individual places where people want to both live and come back to.

Our developments are designed to be for everyone, attractive both to local homebuyers and potential re-locators. We aim to offer every category of home from entry level starter home through to the higher end of the market.  To give tangible shape to our placemaking ethos, we’ve developed our own unique concept of ‘Placecraft’, which will govern the character of our approach to all sites.

 

  1. You’ve recently purchased 20 sites across Cambridgeshire to develop – why have you chosen this region develop within?

We made the decision to focus initially on Cambridgeshire for our early developments, because it is both the fastest growing city economy in the UK, and is also where our team is currently based. With each mixed-use development fully financed, This Land™ aims to deliver in excess of 1,600 new homes across its current portfolio of sites located within Cambridgeshire.

We are looking to pursue a range of additional development opportunities and strategic sites in Cambridgeshire, with the aim of increasing our delivery by a further 1,000 new homes. Looking to the future, we will be seeking to widen the company’s portfolio still further through the acquisition of additional residential and mixed-use sites in other parts of the UK. Details of the sites and future schemes will be shared at the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Economic Growth Conference.

 

  1. In terms on working with This Land™, what values must companies that are interested in working with you have, and how would they go about getting involved in your projects?

We will always treat people and the environment with empathy and respect, with everything we are and do underpinned by our core values: decent, commercial and courageous.  We understand and consider every angle to maximise our potential and returns and we are prepared to challenge the accepted in all we do. For companies that are interested in working alongside us, we would ask that they share a similar ethos and the drive and passion of This Land™ to offer a fresh product and approach that in time, will force a change for the better amongst our peers.  We are keen to build long-term relationships with trusted businesses and suppliers that share our values and ambitions and we invite them to email hello@this-land.co.uk in the first instance.

 

  1. Soham Eastern Gateway is one of several schemes you’re currently working on – how is the project coming along, and what does it include?

Our discussions around the project are making good progress and we expect to be in a position to submit our planning application to East Cambridgeshire District Council by the end of this year.  Our plans for Soham Eastern Gateway are designed to deliver a development that will both complement and benefit the existing town and its residents.  The project will deliver over 500 new homes, a new access roundabout onto the A142 and a new medical centre, as well as generous open and green spaces and retail and employment opportunities available both to our new residents and the wider community.

We have been consulting with the local community and a wide range of stakeholders on the proposals since February 2018 and presented our initial proposals at a public exhibition in July. A further public exhibition presenting the final masterplan will take place in the coming months, providing another opportunity for members of the public to view and comment on our proposals before the planning application submission.

 

  1. You have identified a five-year development pipeline which will allow you to move quickly and expand further across the UK and into all asset classes. What’s your vision for the company in 15-20 years’ time?

In the years ahead we would expect to have completed many projects across the length and breadth of the UK, maintaining a healthy pipeline of both residential-led and mixed schemes that continue to redefine best practice in the industry. Our ambition is to lead by example in driving a transformation of the UK housebuilding industry, prioritising customer needs and being seen to be ahead of the game in pushing the boundaries in adopting new technologies and construction standards, including innovative renewable energy solutions and ensuring that our developments accommodate the introduction of electric and autonomous vehicles and hyper-fast broadband. UK development businesses, especially housebuilders, are traditionally amongst the most conservative.  This Land’s mission is to challenge prevailing attitudes to create better homes for our future customers.

 

  1. There is a huge need to accelerate housing across the UK – and specifically in Cambridgeshire which is seeing a strong economic performance and increased needs due to the planned corridor linking the Cambridge/Peterborough sub-region to Oxford. How can we deliver more homes quicker – does the solution lie in more/better collaboration, a simpler, smoother planning process, innovation etc.?

The planning process in England is challenging – its slow, its inefficient and it is extremely slow to adapt to accommodate new circumstances, challenges and opportunities.  It is certainly a constraint on growth.  However, it will take a long time to make the planning system more outcome-focused rather than process driven.  There are things that need to be done in the shorter term.

Greater collaboration between housebuilders, landlords and other industry professional is key, but there also needs to be more collaboration and focus on delivery between key industry players and the local planning authorities.  We have to get away from the adversarial relationship between council and developer that too often exists. The advent of the Cambridgeshire Peterborough Combined Authority has been a welcome innovation, primarily in streamlining and modernising the structures of infrastructure decision making in the region.

We believe that the key to increasing the rate of housing delivery is infrastructure, particularly transport infrastructure. The Oxford-Cambridge railway will generate a huge impetus to housebuilding in areas with easy access to the stations along its route, but there is much more that can be done in our region. Other new transport infrastructure is necessary to open up underperforming areas of the region where connectivity is poor and land values relatively low, such as the northern Cambridgeshire towns of March and Wisbech.  Better connectivity to the key growth areas, especially Cambridge, will both relieve that pressure on Green Belt land around Cambridge itself, and also rejuvenises less prosperous areas by building the commercial imperative for growth and inward investment, which in turn drives the market for new housing delivery.

 

  1. Why is the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Economic Growth Conference an important date in the industry calendar?

This conference is important in providing industry experts and practitioners (both private and public sector) with an opportunity to meet and exchange ideas and opportunities with like-minded businesses and individuals who are invested in the growth of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.  Cambridge itself is currently the fastest-growing city economy in the UK, but that growth is becoming increasingly constrained by the scarcity if new homes. The greater Cambridgeshire region has a pressing need to deliver more high quality housing of all types to accommodate the fast pace of economic growth and inward investment that the Cambridgeshire/Peterborough sub-region is experiencing.  This event and others like it should be a valuable forum to find new ways to unlock the faster housing growth that the area needs.

 

Tickets can be purchased for the event here.

Full for details on the speakers and the event programme click here.