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Stalled Hertfordshire site bought out of receivership for 170 affordable homes
A site in Hertfordshire that was supposed to host the world’s most sustainable residential tower has been bought out of receivership and will now have 170 affordable homes built on it.
Developer Southern Grove has bought the site in Hemel Hempstead, which was meant to have been home to eco-scheme The Beacon, due for completion in 2018.
It was later remodelled and renamed Boxmoor Forest by developer Lumiere Developments, but construction never got under way and ultimately the debt held against the project was called in by its bridging lender.
The site was advertised by the receiver at £8.5m and Southern Grove exchanged contracts on the land last week.
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The company – which specialises in delivering affordable housing schemes in areas of high demand – will now partner with an as-yet-unnamed housing association to provide 170 homes in a fully affordable scheme.
The site, on Whiteleaf Road, is a 10-minute walk from Hemel Hempstead train station.
ECE Architecture will be designing the development and a planning application is expected to be submitted to Dacorum Borough Council this summer.
A spokesperson for Southern Grove said that the housing association partner was likely to be confirmed in the coming weeks. Southern Grove is currently engaging in discussions with a number of parties, the spokesperson added.
Tom Slingsby, chief executive of Southern Grove, said: “Hemel Hempstead desperately needs more affordable homes and we’re proud to be tabling the latest in a series of projects for fully affordable schemes right where people need them.”
All the units will be available at affordable rent or for purchase with shared ownership.
Southern Grove has previously worked with Metropolitan Thames Valley on a 26-storey block of flats in Ealing, west London.
