November 10, 2020
Fiera Real Estate & Angle Property are pleased to announce the sale of part of the Residential Land Partnership’s (“RLP”) site at Rectory Farm, Kings Langley for over £9 million to Miller Homes Limited.
Following the purchase of the entire 20 acre site in February 2018, outline planning consent was secured by Angle Property for 55 new homes on the previously developed part of the site (3.5 acres) in June 2019. Following a successful marketing campaign launched in Q2 2020 the site sale has now completed to Miller Homes Limited.
The brownfield area of the Rectory Farm where the new homes are to be built comprises dilapidated industrial and storage buildings which in recent years have fallen into a state of disrepair with a number being destroyed by fire.
The 55 unit residential scheme will consist of attractive high-quality family homes, including 35% affordable homes. The clean-up in physical and environmental terms as well as enhanced landscaping is considered a significant benefit for this greenbelt site.
Dacorum Borough Council is due to start public consultation on their Regulation 18 draft local plan in late November 2020 with the entire Rectory Farm site allocated for 200 units. Pending a successful consultation period on the draft Local Plan, it is likely a planning application will be lodged for a further 145 units on the remainder of the site, together with around 6 acres of newly landscaped public open space and community facilities.
Fiera Real Estate acted as property advisor to RLP, a £70million fund managed by Schroders. RLP was launched in October 2017 to help address the significant undersupply of housing across the UK whilst generating strong returns to investors through the acquisition and transformation of sites for residential development. This transaction represents the fund’s third profitable disposal in 2020 despite unprecedented market conditions with a combined total of £31million.
Chris Button, Fund Manager at Fiera Real Estate commented, “On behalf of our investors we are delighted to complete the sale of this prime site within 32 months of its acquisition. We have significant resources to acquire similar sites on an unconditional basis to help address the undersupply of housing throughout the UK.”
James Good, Angle Property commented, “We are pleased to have concluded this sale to Miller Homes having worked closely with local stakeholders to secure a sustainable redevelopment on the previously developed part of this poorly performing greenbelt site.”
Nick Prince, Fund Manager at Schroders Real Estate commented, “Yet again RLP defies prevailing market conditions to deliver a positive outcome for our investors. We are strong advocates of alternative strategies, such as RLP, where performance is driven by demand and supply fundamentals and less correlated with the wider economy.”