St Modwen has formed a £300m joint venture with Persimmon in a bid to unlock some of the UK’s major regeneration projects.
The 50:50 partnership plans initially to develop 2,000 homes on seven sites owned by regeneration specialist St Modwen over a five-year period.
The sites are: the 478-acre Long Marston estate near Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire; the 600-acre former steelworks in Llanwern, South Wales; the 1,000-acre former BP Oil Llandarcy refinery in Neath, West Glamorgan; the 468-acre former MG-Rover factory at Longbridge, and the 88-acre former Goodyear tyre factory in Wolverhampton, both West Midlands; the 17-acre former Pyrex factory in Sunderland, Tyne & Wear; and the 18-acre former Corus steelworks in Darlington, Co Durham.
St Modwen chief executive Bill Oliver said that although the sites had planning permission for several thousand homes, the partnership would first develop as many as 300 at each one.
He added that the tie-up had grown out of initial talks that St Modwen had held with Persimmon to sell it the first phase of its planned housing at the Goodyear and Llanwern sites.
“We wanted to release value at our sites, but why sell at the bottom of the market when, this way, we can guarantee a profit-share?” said Oliver.
Mike Farley, Persimmon chief executive, added: “This will provide Persimmon with a steady long-term supply of plots across England and Wales from St Modwen’s well-located landbank.”
St Modwen owns a total of 25,000 residential plots across the UK. The jv is understood to be in further discussions over a number of these sites.
