Bloor picks up Preston plot with planning permission

Approximately 36 acres at Old Harm Farm in Lea have been acquired by the housebuilder, who is expected to make use of the land’s outline planning permission for 280 homes.

The planning permission was secured in November last year by applicant and management consultancy Bulwark. The approved application called for a possible 196 market houses and 84 affordable homes. Steven Abbott Associates was the planning consultant on the scheme.

Bloor Homes completed the purchase of the land off the A583 in August. Savills acted for the unnamed land owner in the deal, which the agent described as a “competitive informal tender process”.

While the landowner was not named, the planning application names both Lancashire County Council and a J Goodier as the owners/agricultural tenants of the plot. The planning application’s reference number with Preston City Council is 06/2018/0885.

The development of the farmland could unlock more than £3m in planning gain for Preston City Council, according to Savills.

Savills director Ed Rooney said: “We are very pleased to bring this disposal to a swift and successful conclusion for our client. The competitive and unconditional terms that were secured reflect the continued strength of the land market in the North West but also the shortage of available, quality development land.”

Jay Duffield, an associate at Savills who worked on the land sale, echoed Rooney’s comments about the state of the land market.

“Developers are facing additional challenges this year caused by inflationary pressures and changes in building regulations but, above all, there is still an acute lack of supply which is forcing developers to ‘think big’ to secure anchor sites and consider opportunities further up the risk curve and further down the planning supply chain,” Duffield said.

Savills North West development team sold 18 sites last year. These deals had a land value of nearly £93m.