English Partnerships has outbid private sector developers to buy five more sites as part of its London housing drive.
The deals are the latest step in a £150m plan to assemble 15 sites to build 3,500 homes in London, including 2,000 for key workers. But private housebuilders have criticised the government regeneration agency for deviating from its core function.
The bulk of the sites bought by EP, which were identified by DTZ, are made up of surplus land belonging to local authorities. But they were not part of the register of surplus government land, from which public sector agencies like EP can select sites to buy before they go on the open market.
In the past, use of the list has infuriated private bidders. Pierre Williams, spokesman for the Housebuilders Federation, said that even though the latest deals did not require using the exclusivity right, “it is a growing concern. English Partnerships was set up to assemble sites in difficult situations that would otherwise not come to the market and would not be viable. What we’re now seeing is an emerging trend where developers end up bidding against EP.”
But John Lewis, director of EP’s strategic joint ventures division, said: “The market isn’t delivering a solution on its own. By assembling a portfolio we can ask the private sector to respond and help us deliver the numbers.”
The largest site bought is 31.8 acres of surplus land at Lymington Fields, bought from the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham.
EP has also bought 14.8 acres at the former Rowan High School from the London Borough of Merton; 11.7 acres from Network Rail, adjacent to the 5.4-acre former Catford greyhound stadium bought from Wembley (8 March, p38); 2 acres at Newington Butts, Southwark; and 1.5 acres at South Side, Wandsworth, from Portfolio Holdings.
It has so far spent around £85m of its £150m budget for the London-wide initiative.
EP is looking for developers, housebuilders, housing associations and financial institutions to help build the new homes. It issued a full notice in the Official Journal of the European Union last month.
Lewis said the regeneration agency wanted potential partners to come up with a “supply chain method to get cost savings” across the sites.
The closing date for expressions of interest is 17 May.
