Legal & General announces it has submitted plans to deliver its first Suburban Build to Rent (SBTR) scheme as part of its £1bn multi-tenure site in North Horsham. The scheme forms part of Legal & General’s 2,750 home master plan for North Horsham.
Bringing together its Build to Rent, affordable housing and modular homes businesses, Legal & General seeks to deliver 200 new homes which will be an exemplar in sustainable and affordable family accommodation. The scheme will use modern methods of construction (MMC) to accelerate the delivery of the site whilst minimising its environmental impact.
If granted planning permission, Legal & General’s £70m North Horsham scheme will deliver 124 Suburban Build To Rent homes, alongside 97 homes for social rent, affordable rent and shared ownership. The development is focused on lower cost housing for families, meeting the need identified in the council’s Local Plan, which states: “the cost of housing is high which can make it hard for [families] to stay or move back to the District.” The scheme will offer a high proportion of two and three bed houses – most suited to families in the area.
The development will also offer a commercial space, new supermarket, a village centre and green spaces for residents. Residents will also benefit from excellent road and transport links to employment hot-spots including London.
For the first building phase, Legal & General is trialling a new model which prioritises developing important infrastructure for local areas – with a new school which is expected to be open from January 2022. The scheme also targets to be one of the first EPC A-Rated Suburban Build To Rent and affordable developments in the UK – as part of the company’s commitment for its residential homes to be operationally net-zero carbon from 2030.
“In a new approach which prioritises developing important infrastructure for local areas in the first building phase, Legal & General has helped advance the completion of the infrastructure for a new school, Bohunt School, to bolster high quality options for nearby families. It will also use modular methods of construction to ensure speed, scale and quality of delivery, as well as helping to build back better by delivering one of the UK’s first EPC A-Rated Suburban Build to Rent and affordable housing schemes.”
Nigel Wilson, Group CEO, Legal & General
The company is making strong progress toward its mission to deliver a fully sustainable housing platform, with the development in North Horsham following two net-zero schemes announced by its later living business, Inspired Villages, earlier this year.
Legal & General’s Modular Homes is providing an innovative approach to the design, production and construction of homes. Set up to disrupt the housing market, the business has continued to grow and its schemes in Selby and Bristol, together with North Horsham, puts its development pipeline at 670 homes in the next year.
“England has a shortfall of over four million homes and the affordability gap for buyers and renters continues to increase. We are proud to be making the first steps towards delivering our first Suburban Build to Rent scheme in North Horsham to offer more quality rental options outside urban areas.
“This Suburban Build to Rent scheme is an exceptional opportunity for Legal & General to deliver a site using the spectrum of its housing platform, bringing forward much needed affordable family housing.”
Nigel Wilson, Group CEO, Legal & General
