Cala Homes has acquired a residential development site in St Albans, Hertfordshire, with outline planning permission for up to 150 homes.
The housebuilder acquired the 12.95-acre green belt site at Harpenden Road from land owner the Sewell Trust for an undisclosed price.
The landmark site attracted “significant interest” from national and regional house builders due to its excellent location and proximity to local amenities.
Andrew Wright, senior partner and head of land, planning and development at Kirkby Diamond, which represented the land owner on the deal, said: “The sale of the Harpenden Road site in St Albans is just one of a number of sites we have worked on and brought to the market over the last 18 months, at a time when the market has been subdued due to the increased cost of borrowing and inflation.
“However, St Albans proved to be the exception to the general trend and we received unprecedented levels of interest in the site and competitive bids from more than 15 prospective purchasers. The offers we received from bidders were of a very high standard which is testament to the standout quality of the site and the technical information we provided. The bid from Cala was very well prepared and presented, ultimately making the decision easier and they were excellent to deal with throughout the pre- and post-contract negotiations.”
The site was promoted by Hunston Developments who obtained outline planning permission in 2021 and defeated a legal challenge to the permission in 2022.
