Development: Woodhouse Farm
Location: Caverswall Lane, adjacent to Meir, Stoke-on-Trent
Local Authority: Stoke-on-Trent City Council
Site area: 30 acres
Final scheme: 350 new homes
Phase 1: 169 homes - sold to Persimmon Homes
Phase 2: 181 homes - sold to Bellway Homes
Land promoter: The Strategic Land Group
Planning permission secured: February 2018
Sales completed: January 2021 and October 2021
On the edge of Meir, to the south of Stoke-on-Trent, a 30-acre greenfield site had the potential to deliver hundreds of new homes. However, previous attempts to secure residential planning permission had failed. When the landowners appointed The Strategic Land Group (SLG) in 2016, the site was considered a challenging proposition in a city where the supply of new housing was heavily dependent on brownfield land – much of which was not commercially viable.
However, the SLG team believed that the council could not demonstrate sufficient supply of deliverable land to meet its five-year requirement. That meant the planning balance could shift in favour of sustainable development.
SLG submitted a planning application in January 2017, but the strategy wasn’t simply to secure permission for as many homes as possible – the team wanted to create a development that would work for the landowner, the eventual housebuilder and the local community.
The masterplan included substantial new open space, green corridors running through the site, extensive landscape buffers to the surrounding countryside and a wide, tree-lined boulevard through the centre of the development.
The aim was to create an attractive scheme and it was well received, with local councillors describing it as a “quality proposal” with the potential to create a “proper small community”.
As with many developments, one of the biggest obstacles to planning permission was traffic. The scheme would be served through a single point of access onto an already congested local road network. SLG worked with its highways advisors to undertake detailed modelling and develop a solution that addressed the concerns – solutions included an emergency access route and improvements to the surrounding roads. After just over 12 months of negotiations, the planning application was approved.
In February 2018, SLG secured an outline planning permission for 350 new homes. The field had finally become a development opportunity.
Development: Woodhouse Farm
Location: Caverswall Lane, adjacent to Meir, Stoke-on-Trent
Local Authority: Stoke-on-Trent City Council
Site area: 30 acres
Final scheme: 350 new homes
Phase 1: 169 homes - sold to Persimmon Homes
Phase 2: 181 homes - sold to Bellway Homes
Land promoter: The Strategic Land Group
Planning permission secured: February 2018
Sales completed: January 2021 and October 2021
On the edge of Meir, to the south of Stoke-on-Trent, a 30-acre greenfield site had the potential to deliver hundreds of new homes. However, previous attempts to secure residential planning permission had failed. When the landowners appointed The Strategic Land Group (SLG) in 2016, the site was considered a challenging proposition in a city where the supply of new housing was heavily dependent on brownfield land – much of which was not commercially viable.
However, the SLG team believed that the council could not demonstrate sufficient supply of deliverable land to meet its five-year requirement. That meant the planning balance could shift in favour of sustainable development.
SLG submitted a planning application in January 2017, but the strategy wasn’t simply to secure permission for as many homes as possible – the team wanted to create a development that would work for the landowner, the eventual housebuilder and the local community.
The masterplan included substantial new open space, green corridors running through the site, extensive landscape buffers to the surrounding countryside and a wide, tree-lined boulevard through the centre of the development.
The aim was to create an attractive scheme and it was well received, with local councillors describing it as a “quality proposal” with the potential to create a “proper small community”.
As with many developments, one of the biggest obstacles to planning permission was traffic. The scheme would be served through a single point of access onto an already congested local road network. SLG worked with its highways advisors to undertake detailed modelling and develop a solution that addressed the concerns – solutions included an emergency access route and improvements to the surrounding roads. After just over 12 months of negotiations, the planning application was approved.
In February 2018, SLG secured an outline planning permission for 350 new homes. The field had finally become a development opportunity.
Development: Woodhouse Farm
Location: Caverswall Lane, adjacent to Meir, Stoke-on-Trent
Local Authority: Stoke-on-Trent City Council
Site area: 30 acres
Final scheme: 350 new homes
Phase 1: 169 homes - sold to Persimmon Homes
Phase 2: 181 homes - sold to Bellway Homes
Land promoter: The Strategic Land Group
Planning permission secured: February 2018
Sales completed: January 2021 and October 2021
On the edge of Meir, to the south of Stoke-on-Trent, a 30-acre greenfield site had the potential to deliver hundreds of new homes. However, previous attempts to secure residential planning permission had failed. When the landowners appointed The Strategic Land Group (SLG) in 2016, the site was considered a challenging proposition in a city where the supply of new housing was heavily dependent on brownfield land – much of which was not commercially viable.
However, the SLG team believed that the council could not demonstrate sufficient supply of deliverable land to meet its five-year requirement. That meant the planning balance could shift in favour of sustainable development.
SLG submitted a planning application in January 2017, but the strategy wasn’t simply to secure permission for as many homes as possible – the team wanted to create a development that would work for the landowner, the eventual housebuilder and the local community.
The masterplan included substantial new open space, green corridors running through the site, extensive landscape buffers to the surrounding countryside and a wide, tree-lined boulevard through the centre of the development.
The aim was to create an attractive scheme and it was well received, with local councillors describing it as a “quality proposal” with the potential to create a “proper small community”.
As with many developments, one of the biggest obstacles to planning permission was traffic. The scheme would be served through a single point of access onto an already congested local road network. SLG worked with its highways advisors to undertake detailed modelling and develop a solution that addressed the concerns – solutions included an emergency access route and improvements to the surrounding roads. After just over 12 months of negotiations, the planning application was approved.
In February 2018, SLG secured an outline planning permission for 350 new homes. The field had finally become a development opportunity.
For SLG, securing planning permission was only part of the job. At 350 homes, the site was too large for many housebuilders to acquire in a single transaction. A developer taking the whole site would also be likely to phase its payments to the landowner, delaying the return.
SLG therefore took the strategic decision to divide the site into two broadly equal phases before marketing it. The split was carefully considered, with the second phase positioned so that it had its own strong presence next to the main access, ensuring it wouldn’t feel like an afterthought once the first phase was developed.
This protected the value of both phases and created the opportunity for two housebuilders to develop the site concurrently.
SLG also looked beyond the planning permission itself - an extensive ground investigation was commissioned so prospective developers could accurately assess foundation costs and price the site with greater confidence.
The team also worked with Western Power to secure the diversion of electricity cables crossing the site, navigating a lengthy legal process to achieve this at no cost. The goal was to remove uncertainty wherever possible so developers could make their strongest offers.
Following a competitive bidding process, the first phase - 169 homes - was agreed for sale to Persimmon Homes. The sale was conditional on Persimmon securing its own reserved matters permission; a common approach that reduces risk for the housebuilder and can therefore support a stronger land value. After delays caused by the pandemic, the purchase completed in January 2021.
The second phase was then released to the market. There was strong interest, and SLG ultimately agreed a deal with Bellway Homes for the remaining 181 homes. Unusually, Bellway's offer was entirely unconditional - it would take the site as it stood and deal with the remaining planning approvals at its own risk. The sale completed in October 2021.
The result was a 350-home development delivered through two housebuilders, rather than a single developer taking the whole site and building it out over a longer period.
The first phase was developed by Persimmon, while Bellway's 181-home phase became The Crescent, with construction subsequently getting underway and homes released for sale.
The Crescent includes two, three and four-bedroom homes alongside landscaped public open space. The wider development also brought significant investment into local services and infrastructure, with the two housebuilders contributing almost £2.6 million as part of the planning agreement.
For SLG, the project demonstrated that the value of strategic land promotion doesn't end when planning permission is secured. It lies in understanding what the market needs,
removing barriers, structuring the sale intelligently and creating the conditions for development to happen sooner.
Stoke-on-Trent is a great example of the value of taking a different view of a site. Previous attempts to secure planning permission had failed, and the site was considered too risky by potential developers.
SLG saw an opportunity, developed a planning strategy around the city's housing land position and worked with the council to create a high-quality masterplan.
Then, rather than simply putting the consented site on the market, the team carefully prepared it for sale and divided it into two phases, creating competition between developers and protecting value for the landowner.
Paul Smith, Managing Director of The Strategic Land Group, said: “Stoke is a really good example of the value a land promoter can bring to a site that others may have written off. When we first became involved, previous attempts to secure planning permission had failed and there was understandably a degree of scepticism about whether the site could work.
“We believed there was an opportunity, but securing the planning permission was only part of the challenge. By creating a strong masterplan, resolving the technical issues and then dividing the site into two phases, we were able to attract two strong housebuilders and bring forward the homes much more quickly. The result was a great outcome for the landowner, the developers and the local community. That's exactly what we want to achieve through strategic land promotion.”
