Redrow shows appetite for new land with Whittle-le-Woods site acquisition

ACQUISITION of a 14-acre site off Royton Drive, in Whittle-le-Woods, near Chorley, will help Redrow Homes deliver new homes in 2022.

Redrow is keen to expand its operations in the region and is actively looking for new land, despite some uncertainty over the long-term impact of Covid on the housing market.

Claire Jarvis, new managing director of Redrow Homes (Lancashire), based at Buckshaw Village, near Chorley, commented: “We’re very pleased to have this site within our portfolio for future development and look forward to starting groundworks later this year.

“At the same time we are actively seeking other new opportunities in the Chorley, Leyland and Wigan areas; as well as further south in our patch, which actually includes parts of Greater Manchester like Bolton, Salford, Oldham and Tameside, and areas of Merseyside and Cheshire, such as St Helens, Prescot and Warrington.

“The Whittle-le-Woods site is relatively small by our standards and is just one example of the type of scheme we can fulfil. We’re equally interested in sites of 100-units plus and those with large-scale potential for several hundred homes over a number of years.

“We are very used to the cyclical conditions of the housing market and our sales have bounced back post-Covid.  Going forward we will focus on our core strengths of product quality, strong placemaking and 5-star customer service; and, while no one can predict the future, people will always need somewhere to live.”

With reserved matters consent for 39 three, four and five-bedroom detached homes – including some of Redrow’s largest – plus 14 affordable properties, the former pasture land at Crostons Farm, Whittle-le-Woods, is adjacent to the housebuilder’s Lucas Green development which was completed in 2017.

The development will include significant amounts of open space and the vast majority of mature trees on site will be retained, with less than half of the 14-acre site actually being developed.  Many of the properties will enjoy exceptionally large gardens too.

Private sale houses will be from Redrow’s Arts & Crafts inspired Heritage Collection, including examples of Redrow’s ‘Lifestyle’ homes which have larger than usual bedrooms, each one with its own bathroom. The largest homes will be over 2,000 square feet, such as the five-bedroom, three-bathroom Blenheim.

Section 106 commitments associated with the planning permission include over £7,000 towards off-site open space, while the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) is likely to generate around £700,000 for Chorley Council to invest locally in support services such as schools and transport. The 14 affordable properties will be sold to a Housing Association for social rent.

Close to the A6 and M61, the new development will offer good access to Chorley, Preston and Manchester.

While groundworks are scheduled to start later this year, the amount of work involved in preparing the site means housebuilding is not expected to be underway until summer 2021 and the first occupations are not anticipated until 2022.

For details of where Redrow Homes (Lancashire) is currently building see www.redrow.co.uk/lancashire