First site sold under public land disposal pilot scheme run by HCA

The first site has been sold under the Homes and Communities Agency’s public land disposal pilot scheme.

Developer Persimmon Homes Lancashire is to apply for planning permission to build some 100 homes on a 17-acre site at Aintree, identified in Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council’s strategic housing land availability assessment as having potential for sustainable redevelopment. It will also provide 10 acres of public open space.

The HCA has taken on marketing 35 sites from government bodies.

These have capacity for up to 100,000 homes, and it hopes to sell them by March 2015.

It has also updated its Land Development and Disposal Plan, which details the landholdings expected to become available to developers up to March 2016.

HCA chief executive, Andy Rose, said: “From 2015, the HCA will take on an enhanced land disposal role for government, adding value to surplus public sector sites with development potential and speeding up their sale to help increase the supply of housing and increase economic growth.”