Housebuilders bought site from government for £50m
Berkeley Homes and Audley Group are set to build nearly 300 homes in Berkshire on a site bought from the government for around £50m.
The Cabinet Office revealed that the firms had acquired the site of the government’s former civil service college at Sunningdale Park (pictured).
Berkeley and Audley provisionally bought the site four years ago, with the final sale dependent on getting planning permission for a residential and retirement scheme.
Audley will redevelop and retain Northcote House, the listed building which housed the college’s training centre, as part of a retirement housing community featuring 103 flats for the over-55s.
Another 168 homes will be built by Berkeley in the grounds, including 38 affordable properties. The development will also feature a 42-acre public park.
Last week the government admitted that it had failed to meet its own target for selling off enough public land for housing development.
Official figures from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government confirmed that it had released land for around 48,000 homes which had subsequently been built on. The target was 160,000 homes as of June last year
However the government has claimed that its central estate was nearly a third smaller than it was 10 years ago. It said 339 former government buildings had been sold, generating more than £2bn for the public purse.
The Cabinet Office said the central estate comprised core properties owned, leased or occupied by government organisations and included offices and front-of-house services such as job centres, passport offices and courts. It excluded defence department properties and prisons.
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