HUBY SALE COMPLETION
Background
In early 2020, the landowner - a large family trust with significant land holdings across the UK - agreed to partner with Richard Roberts to promote circa three acres of land in the sought after village of Huby.
The landowner was well accustomed to option agreements, with land holdings currently under option with major housebuilders across the UK, but there had been little interest in these parcels.
planning
The site was within a local authority area with a strong 5 year land supply position, and the site did not benefit from an allocation or draft allocation.
Despite this, Richard Roberts formulated a strategy which would look to secure planning consent under interim policy guidance to plug a gap in an otherwise ‘out of date’ local plan. This was time limited, as the local authority were in the process of updating their policy position, so time was of the essence to achieve a consent before the opportunity disappeared.
Richard Roberts put forward two applications, one of which was successful at planning committee, and the other of which was won at appeal, after the Local Authority said they were unable to support it on ‘landscape and character grounds’.
SALE
With a ‘shovel ready’ site split over two consents, which minimised S.106 contributions (adding to land value), the site was marketed through the landowner’s usual agent.
A developer was chosen after a competitive bid process, and Richard Roberts supplied a full suite of searches, legal pack, and technical documents to ensure a speedy completion.
The land had some legal issues with former covenants and easements which Richard Roberts dealt with early on to avoid these causing issues in the sales process.
From offer acceptance, completion took 8 weeks and 3 days.
