Legal & General (L&G) has acquired a 272 acre site in Arborfield, Wokingham for an undisclosed sum, with planning consent for 1,500 new homes, a school and shops.
The site represents the second major scheme being brought forward by L&G’s housebuilding arm, L&G Homes. It recently started work on site at its first development, Buckler’s Park, a 250 acre, 1000-home development in Crowthorne, Berkshire.
'We have a chronic housing shortage in the UK and speeding up the delivery of new supply is key to tackling this crisis,' commented James Lidgate, CEO of L&G Homes (pictured). 'Adopting a multi-tenure approach means that we can create homes in a much shorter timescale as well as supporting people throughout their different life stages. Rather than taking 15 years to build 1500 new homes, we believe that we could achieve a 50% improvement in delivery.'
Establishing housing capabilities across all tenures, L&G's current residential strategy includes delivering Build to Sell housing alongside Build to Rent, later living, student accommodation and affordable housing. It is also working on new construction methods through its modular factory in Leeds - Legal & General Modular. It recently announced a target to build more than 70,000 new homes over the next five to ten years.
Construction for the first phase of new homes at Arborfield in Berkshire is due to start at the end of next year. Over a third of the development will accommodate affordable housing, whilst over 44% of the total site will be dedicated to public open space.
