Harworth Group has purchased two strategic land sites in the Midlands to accelerate the expansion of its strategic land bank.
Both sites have been purchased using part of the £27.1m raised from the Company’s equity placing in March 2017 and are projected to deliver returns above Harworth’s double-digit target rate of return. The sites also sit adjacent to existing Harworth landholdings, thus generating marriage value (additional value) when combined.
Coalville, Leicestershire
Harworth has purchased a 145-acre site in Coalville, Leicestershire that neighbours its existing Coalville major development site for £11.8m plus acquisition costs. The newly acquired site already benefits from planning consent for 914 residential plots and the transaction brings marriage value when combined with Harworth’s existing planning consent. The deal brings the total number of consented plots at Coalville under Harworth control to 2,016 plots, providing a 15-year development pipeline.
Chatterley Valley, Staffordshire
Harworth has also exercised its option to purchase an 88-acre site at Chatterley Valley, Staffordshire close to the A500 that neighbours our existing 24-acre freehold site for £2.6m plus acquisition costs. The combined 112-acre site benefits from an extant planning consent for 1.2m sq. ft of commercial development, generating marriage value and providing a 10-year development pipeline. It also benefits from Government Enterprise Zone status that provides incentives to potential occupiers.
These deals bring the total number of consented residential plots currently under Harworth’s ownership to 10,085, alongside 11.2m sq. ft of consented commercial development space.
Commenting on these deals, Owen Michaelson, Chief Executive Officer, 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.
Good progress has also been made in securing other land and property targets identified in March’s equity placing. We therefore expect that all of the funds raised in March will be committed by the year end.”