Estates & Investments

Telford & Wrekin Council today (Thurs) highlighted in a cabinet report the strengths of the programme which brings forward former new town sites set aside for development, de-risks them and provides shovel ready land which can be developed for employment and residential use.

The 10 year Land Deal with Homes England (HE) was launched in 2015 and is set to generate £44.5m of land receipts from the sale of HE land by 2025.

Underpinned by the council’s ability to de-risk sites through upfront investment, the programme has delivered an acceleration in the sale of commercial and residential sites and has raised land values.

During the financial year 2022/2023, the Telford Land Deal has also driven the sale of a further three commercial sites and one residential site which has achieved a gross sales income of £6.6m. 

These sales will support the delivery of new employment floor space (EFS) of 19,883m2 (214,018sqft), 307 anticipated new jobs and 251 new homes, 102 of which are affordable.

The Telford Land Deal to date has delivered commercial floor space of 163,871m2 (1,763,892sqft), 1535 housing units (684 affordable) and enabled 2233 new jobs.

The Deal, alongside the Council’s Invest Telford business pledge and the Council’s ability to provide land, build and lease bespoke properties and offer a full turnkey solution funded through its Growth Fund, continues to drive a high number of investment enquiries into Telford

Key success stories of the Telford Land Deal programme include Ni.PARK in Newport, which has become a base for national and global agri-tech firms or those with links to the agri-tech sector, and Hortonwood West and T54 business parks in Telford.

Hortonwood West in Telford has been very successful with the estate now occupied by businesses including Rosewood Pet Products Ltd, Eden Horticulture, Baker Bellfield, Craemer UK Ltd,Kensa Creative, UPS and CEL Group, as well as 15 council-owned starter units (Leasowes Court).

Global engineering firm Magna Cosma is one of the firms based at T54 which brought the largest sum of foreign direct investment to the UK in the last 10 years, creating over 300 new jobs for residents in the borough, whilst they have plans to expand further.

Other residential sites such as Newcomen Way, Majestic Way and Old Park have also been delivered providing 182 new, affordable homes in the borough.

As part of the Telford Land Deal, the council has taken ownership of all residual non developable land from Homes England.  

This has provided the additional opportunity to substantially enhance and grow the Borough’s provision of Green Network and Local Nature Reserves alongside providing support to a range of programmes including the Great Crested Newt District Licencing Scheme, carbon offsetting and Biodiversity Net Gain.

Councillor Lee Carter (Lab), Telford & Wrekin Council’s Cabinet Member for Place (the Economy & Neighbourhood Services), said: “The Telford Land Deal programme continues to be a jewel in the crown for Telford and Wrekin in terms of the sites which are being redeveloped, the investment opportunities it brings to the borough and the jobs it creates.

“Eight years on from when the Telford Land Deal was first launched it continues to be a success and is a unique model which we are extremely proud of.

“As well as creating flagship bases for agri-tech businesses such as Ni.PARK, other business parks which have been developed as a result of the Telford Land Deal have attracted high profile firms from around the world, highlighting that Telford is a prime location to do business from.”

Read the Telford Land Deal cabinet report in full.

Photo: The team at CEL Group which is one of the success stories at Hortonwood West, a site acquired through the Telford Land Deal.