Legal & General has acquired a 272-acre site in Arborfield, Wokingham to help build new homes and speed up housing supply in the UK.
With outline planning consent for 1500 new homes, a school, shops and employment generating uses, it represents the second major site to be brought forward by L&G’s housebuilding arm, Legal & General Homes, the UK insurer said.
L&G said it recently started work on site at its first development, Buckler’s Park, a 250-acre, 1000-home development in Crowthorne, Berkshire.
Construction for the first phase of new homes 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.
Nigel Wilson, CEO of Legal & General, said: “The Budget creates the right backdrop for a real boost to one of the key areas of infrastructure – housing supply. This is the first substantive supply side policy for almost 40 years, since council houses were sold in the 1980s.
“Legal & General will therefore accelerate our roll-out of housing and associated infrastructure including on larger sites where we can create whole new communities like Crowthorne and Arborfield.”
James Lidgate, CEO of Legal & General Homes, said: “We have a chronic housing shortage in the UK and speeding up the delivery of new supply is key to tackling this crisis.
“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.”
