Event Summary
Cumbria Development Update 2025 | Summary and photos
Can Cumbria’s property market be as challenging as its landscape? Is there frustration that the county is overlooked by government? Or is the county about to reach a new peak thanks to devolution? The 2025 Cumbria Development Update took a look at the state of play.
The event, held at the North Lakes Hotel & Spa in Penrith, was sponsored by Caddick and Curtins.
Reaching new heights
Michelle Rothwell, who founded Watch This Space 10 years ago, said the firm’s ethos is about “creating change”. One of her recently completed projects is Lake District Coliving, built in a 15,000 sq ft former biscuit factory in Windermere to address the severe lack of affordable accommodation in the town.
“People have to move out because there’s nowhere to live,” she said. “We were pretty horrified to look at the quality of accommodation. Someone even told us to ‘build it like a prison because people will treat it really badly’.”
Rothwell disagreed and created space for 43 people, all en-suite rooms, with gaming areas and a bakery. It opened on May 1 and is already 75% let.
“It’s about creating a community,” she said, “not just a nice place to live.”
The company also creates workspace, despite property agents trying to put them off.
When her first Cumbria workspace idea was taking shape, the headline rent was £12/sq ft, but she needed £18 to make it stack. Now Rothwell says she’s achieving £28/sq ft and has tenants including Adidas and Fjallraven, in one of her developments. Another is already 98% full, with outdoor brand Columbia taking a 10-year lease.
The latest project is The Flock, 25 acres for industrial space outside Kendal, where “no significant schemes have come forward in the last 10 years”, which is just about to go to planning and could contribute £65m GVA to the local economy.
Michelle Rothwell outlined the various scheme’s she has in the works in Cumbria. Credit: PNW
Ups and downs
Howard Lord, managing director and founder of CERT Property, gave his experience of the Cumbrian development market and the barriers to entry. He said: “Cumbria has fantastic attributes. But the property market is like this everywhere, it’s quite insular, and you have to learn a whole new market.”
Rothwell gave a positive view of dealing with planners: “They are super helpful. One of them was calling me as much as I was calling him. We got planning [for the co-living scheme] in six weeks.”
James Scott, director at Maple Grove Developments, highlighted the ongoing issue with power, giving the example of the firm’s 19-acre industrial site near Junction 41 of the M6, which would be on site in July.
He said: “When we put an application in for 2 MVA we were quoted £9m. We dropped it slightly and managed to score it for £150,000. We went back in and secured, in the end, 2.7 MVA for about £170,000. We still can’t get our heads around this. It is bit of a dark art.”
He said there was huge demand in Cumbria with businesses currently being “shoehorned” into space which didn’t suit. Due to this demand, he’s witnessed “massive growth” with rents doubling in the last four years.
Balancing the environment with viability was of huge concern to panellists, with David Brown, head of development at Castles & Coasts Housing Association, wanting “rid of” nutrient neutrality rules. He said 5,000 homes in Cumbria were on hold because of complications.
His organisation looks after 7,000 homes, 80% of them in Cumbria, with £7m of unsubsidised planned investment. But he said his sector experiences other financial challenges and added: “Our rents are capped and controlled, there is no outside funding, that means none of our schemes are viable. That’s how the system works. Gap funding needs to be bid for, we can never build where the maximum need is.”
Cllr Jonathan Brook, Leader of Westmorland and Furness Council said Cumbria’s future mayor would need to stand up for the county and mix it with more established figures. Credit: PNW
Devolution dealings
Asked by Dan Whelan, deputy editor of Place North West, about the timing of Cumbria’s potential devolution, Cllr Jonathan Brook, Leader of Westmorland & Furness Council, said it was not helpful on the back of recent reorganisation, but vowed to crack on with the process.
Describing bringing six districts and the county council together to create two unitary areas, he said: “The transition has happened, but we have not got stuck into the transformation yet.
“In terms of timing, another layer of change is difficult, but it’s here, and we will get on with it.”
Whelan held an audience poll asking who attendees thought would make a great mayor. Infrastructure expert Kate Willard was named, as were Michelle Rothwell and former MP for Penrith and the Borders Rory Stewart.
Brook said the ideal candidate would be someone with “gravitas and a presence across Cumbria and the North of England” and added: “They need to be able to sell Cumbria on the national stage. They are going to be sitting at a table with established mayors and need to operate in that kind of environment. The danger for Cumbria is we are the minnows. We need to punch above our weight and it’s quite a task.”
What’s next?
Isobel Brown, programme director at Enterprising Cumbria, described her organisation’s work since the functions of the LEP were transferred in 2024.
She said they had created an economic growth board, including 17 members from the likes of the CBI, businesses, local authorities and education institutions, and they are co-opting two young people to “understand what the Cumbria of tomorrow can look like”.
“It is important to bring in that voice,” she added, as she outlined her priorities to shape strategic insight and advice, and investment support, around the needs of businesses and communities. She explained how there were many anchor institutions and large employers, who they needed to partner with to ensure the supply chain benefits, and added: “We have a responsibility to make sure local money stays local.”
One of the programmes she highlighted was a five-year DWP programme, with a potential value of £12m, commencing January 2026 and aimed at those inactive in the labour market.
Isobel Brown ran through the highlights of Cumbria’s 20-year economic strategy. Credit: PNW
“It gives us a labour pool that we can work with,” she said. “The eyes of government are on Cumbria right now.”
Discussing Enterprising Cumbria’s economic strategy, Alex Gardiner, director at Metro Dynamics, said the population of Cumbria was due to decline by 6% in the next 20 years.
She went on to highlight the county’s differences, mentioning Barrow’s issues of deprivation alongside its high value jobs thanks to the likes of BAE Systems, and also discussed Sellafield and the growing robotics sector on the West Coast.
Carlisle was also singled out for its transport links, university, Enterprise Zone and the proposed 10,000-home garden village.
Darren Crossley, director of place, sustainable growth, and transport at Cumberland Council, was asked if Carlisle was pulling its weight in the county.
He outlined the investment going in – from a new city centre university campus and the regeneration around the station and in the public realm, to St Cuthbert’s Garden Village and the Southern Link Road, “the largest road infrastructure project in generations”.
He added: “There is genuine long-term intent to elevate Carlisle as its fortunes do have a bearing on the rest of Cumbria.”
Gill Haigh, managing director, Cumbria Tourism explained how 20% of the jobs in Cumbria were in a tourism sector worth £4.7bn, but she warned: “We don’t have a clear enough brand yet, it has dissipated. What our economic strategy has done is make sure we’ve pulled together a joined up answer.”
She said Cumbria needs to capitalise on the 40 million visitors who “come here for a reason” in boosting its workforce and also spoke of the importance of engaging young people: “It is incumbent on all of us, at board level and in our teams.”
What’s next?
Join Place North at our upcoming events
3 July – West Yorkshire Development Update
11 July – Manchester Summer Social
4 September – Greater Manchester Development Update
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Which part ? North or south Cumbria has always been Cumbria and the lake district bt now its north Cumbria and allerdale and the lake district or south Cumbria broken on a government thts not looking after home grown people
By Anonymous