Buccleuch in £15m land deals

Edinburgh-based Buccleuch Property has released land at a major development site in Kettering, Northamptonshire, to develop a care home, affordable housing and a new primary school in deals worth a total of £15 million.

Construction has already started on the £5m, 66-bed care home after detailed planning consent was received by LNT Group, with work due to be completed by October. The care home provider purchased the one-acre site from Buccleuch for £875,000.

Under the affordable housing deal, Rockingham Forest Housing Association has forward purchased 27 units on a site of 1.26 acres, which will be delivered by Buccleuch Property through a £3m build contract with Westleigh Partnerships. A phased approach will see the practical completion of the affordable housing between December 2018 and March 2019.

This second phase of affordable housing comes after original planning consent was secured in 2013 for 460 housing units on the site, 20 per cent of which were affordable. The first phase was acquired by Keir which has sold about half of the properties to date.

In addition to this, Buccleuch has invested £1.2m in the site to provide an access road, alongside strategic drainage to serve the care home and the remaining 9.1 acres.

The Westhill development will also be home to a £7m primary school for 420 pupils. The land on which the school is being built is due to be gifted back by the Scots firm as part of the planning process.

David Peck, managing director at Buccleuch Property, said: “The ongoing development of this site will provide a number of benefits to the local area, between the improved infrastructure and additional assets available.”