Urban & Civic buys into third huge Cambridgeshire scheme

Urban & Civic has bought a one third stake in a 400-acre site at St. Neots, Cambridgeshire, with a view to developing nearly 3,000 homes, 63,500m² of workspace, and two primary schools.

The share in Wintringham Park has been acquired for £13.3m from two Nuffield charitable trusts, the Nuffield Dominions Trust and the Nuffield Oxford Hospitals Fund. The consideration will be phased over the next four years, with provision for early payments to fund the Trusts’ share of accelerated infrastructure investment.

While consent for the development has still to be given, Urban&Civic has been appointed Master Developer and will take forward the delivery of the site as a whole, together with the sale of fully serviced land parcels. Current new house prices in the local area are around £285 ft².  It is anticipated that infrastructure provision will commence from early 2018.

The land at St. Neots has been in the ownership of one or both Trusts since the 1940s and forms a major part of a bequest from the late Lord Nuffield. Collectively the three Urban&Civic projects in Cambridgeshire will deliver 15,000 homes, 4m ft² of business space, eight primary schools and at least two new secondary schools.  
 
Nigel Hugill, Urban & Civic’s chief executive, said: “The real thrill for us is in the prospect of taking our Master Developer model and deploying the Nuffield experience of creating healthier lifestyles to show just what well planned new large scale projects can achieve. We are aiming for accelerated housing delivery in which improved well-being is made a priority from the outset.”  
 
Andrew Dilnot, Warden of Nuffield College, Oxford and Chair of the Nuffield Dominions Trust, said: “We have owned the site for 75 years and high quality development in the context of all that the Nuffield name stands for remains our absolute priority. We are determined that our partnership with Urban&Civic will provide an appropriate financial and environmental legacy.”