Homes England is poised to lend Urban&Civic funds for a 6,500-home development at Waterbeach Barracks near Cambridge.
It is in discussions over a £60.6m loan to deliver infrastructure for the 716-acre site, which is owned by the Ministry of Defence Infrastructure Organisation.
The 10-year facility would allow Urban&Civic as development manager to develop a primary school, connecting roads, flood defences and drainage, and a 15km cycleway.
Urban&Civic chief executive Nigel Hugill said: “These big sites have to be infrastructure-led. You simply can’t bring forward these sites as a master developer without collaborating with a whole series of stakeholders.”
Hugill was not able to comment on the identity of the funder and Homes England is currently not able to comment on deals in the lead up to the elections.
He said: “We are in negotiations on a new infrastructure facility for £60.6m. That will be sufficient for the upfront infrastructure cost.”
Urban&Civic received planning consent for 6,500 homes at the former royal engineers barracks in May. It seeks to begin construction of the homes in 2021 with the first home to be occupied by 2022.
“Waterbeach is within cycling distance of Cambridge and the science and business barks, which is where the big employment growth is. It is a supply-constrained location, there is very little housing in Cambridge and the environment we are building into is much easier,” said Hugill.
Overall, 30% of the homes will be affordable. Urban&Civic will deliver the remaining as for-sale and rental, with up to half of these as PRS, which the developer will explore selling to an institution or retaining as an asset.
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