Planning Update Delays

As a result of the Covid 19 pandemic, the United Kingdom entered a nationwide lockdown on the 23rd of March 2020. This meant that all non-essential services were required to either close or work remotely where possible. This resulted in a number of local authority services being suspended.

With the current easing of the lockdown, we can confirm that our planning team in the UK are engaging with all the relevant authorities to ascertain the progress of all our sites.

We are treating this as a matter of urgency and we hope to have some updates to share with you in the next 2 to 3 weeks.

HOLT, WILTSHIRE, UK

Site Information

Our latest strategic land investment site is located on the north western edge of Holt, Wiltshire, close to the historical city of Bath. On successful allocation of the site for residential use, it is projected that investors will enjoy a close to 200% return over a 3-4 year period. This equates to an approximately 17.5% annualised return.

The site is located directly adjacent to the idyllic settlement of Holt and is approximately 8 acres in size. Holt is within the County of Wiltshire approximately 3 miles from the town of Bradford-on-Avon and 10 miles from the city of Bath. Holt as a settlement has a range of excellent services and facilities and has ample capacity to accommodate future housing development therefore making our site a Sustainable Urban Extension Site. The site is located to the north west of the settlement and has existing residential development to the south and east with access off Leigh Road linking it to the B310. The site is within walking distance of the services and facilities mentioned previously.

Our Planning Department Comments

• Wiltshire County Council is the administrative authority and they have produced a new Core Strategy which is due to be adopted by the Committee in January 2015.
• This Plan proposes a minimum of 42,000 homes over the plan period to 2026. Within the Bradford-on-Avon Community Area (to which Holt specifically falls within) there is a requirement for 185 new homes over the plan period to which between 60-80 houses have yet to be allocated. In addition, the Inspector, when concluding the Core Strategy was sound, stressed the need for an early review of the housing numbers in the whole area. This will take place in early 2016 and will inevitably result in more housing being required in this area.
• The site represents an excellent opportunity to secure planning allocation for residential development in the medium term. We will be promoting the site through the Core Strategy review process and subsequent Site Allocations Document for inclusion as a residential development site within 3 - 5 years.

Latest Planning Update

Wiltshire Council are required to undertake a review of their Local Plan as it is deemed deficient in its housing delivery as required by the Swindon and Wiltshire Joint Spatial Plan. The Local Plan under review comprises of several Neighbourhood Plans from all the LPA's witin its area.

One of the Neighbourhood Plans that has been identified as deficient is Holt's and this is due to their historical reliance on an alternative site that is unable to meet its required housing delivery target. They are therefore having to identify a suitable alternative site and ours is the only one viable.

The review of the Local Plan and its Neighbourhood plans is ongoing but was paused as a result of the UK nationwide lockdown with the first consultation being delayed until the end of 2020. We will be making pre-submissions to the consultation in Q4 2020 but only expect some feedback in Q2 2021.