Residential sale at East Midlands development

RNS REACH

25 November 2020: 7am                                                                                                                                                              

Harworth Group plc ("Harworth" or the "Company")

Harworth makes key residential sale at major East Midlands development

Harworth Group plc ("Harworth" or the "Company"), a leading regenerator of land and property for development and investment, announces that it has sold a 16-acre parcel of land to Barratt David Wilson ("David Wilson Homes") at its Thoresby Vale development in Nottinghamshire at a price in line with its December 2019 book value.

David Wilson Homes has made its first purchase of Harworth land to build 219 new homes, including 16 affordable homes, as part of Thoresby Vale's second phase which forms part of the gateway into the wider site.  The current proposals include providing a comprehensive range of house-types, from one bed apartments up to four bed family detached homes, a central greenspace with a children's play area, footpath links and a link road to serve Thoresby Vale's new primary school, which Harworth is scheduling for completion in time for the September 2023 school year.

Thoresby Vale is the redevelopment of the 450-acre former Thoresby Colliery, the Midlands' last deep mine to close in July 2015.  Harworth secured a planning consent in October 2017 for the development of 800 homes, 250,000 sq. ft of employment space, a retirement village, a new primary school and the restoration of the site's 300-acre former spoil heap which sits adjacent to the Sherwood Forest.  It has subsequently focused on preparing land, installing services and utilities and is close to completing the restoration of the spoil heap into a Country Park.

The site's first phase of 11.84 acres was sold to Harron Homes in 2019 to build 143 new homes.  Work on these homes has progressed well throughout 2020, with the first homes expected to be complete before Christmas 2020.   

Lynda Shillaw, Chief Executive of Harworth Group plc, said:

"David Wilson Homes will represent the 17^th housebuilder we have sold residential land to in the past seven years, clearly reflecting that our sites endure in their popularity due to the quality of our serviced land and our commitment to effective placemaking. 

Our sites offer what homeowners want from the places where they live.  COVID 19 has shone a light on the importance of people's local environment, and in particular their access to outdoor space, community and wider connectivity - factors that are at the centre of our masterplans for the places that we develop. I look forward to announcing further residential land sales towards the end of 2020."

Peter Henry, Harworth's Director of Yorkshire & Central, added:

"This deal shows Harworth at its best - the transformation of technically challenging brownfield land into a vibrant new place for people to live and work.  Our ongoing focus at Thoresby Vale is to support both David Wilson and Harron to bring their new homes to market as swiftly as possible, whilst continuing our placemaking work to develop the site out in its entirety over the next decade."

-ENDS-

Enquiries:

FTI Consulting

Dido Laurimore                                                             T: 020 3727 1000

Richard Gotla                                                                 E: [email protected]

Eve Kirmatzis                                                                                      

NOTES TO EDITORS

About Harworth Group plc

Harworth Group plc is a leading regenerator of land and property for development and investment which owns, develops and manages a portfolio of approximately 18,000 acres of land on around 100 sites located throughout the North of England and Midlands. The Group specialises in the regeneration of large, complex sites, in particular former industrial sites, into new residential developments and employment areas (harworthgroup.com).