Apache’s Present Made plots £215m Bedfordshire scheme

Apache Capital is bringing forward a second scheme of 650 homes in Bedfordshire via its single family housing business Present Made. The platform has sealed a deal to acquire a 168-acre site from Valorem Investment Partners for a £215m rental scheme. The Mill View development at Thickthorn Farm in Wixam Park will be Present Made’s second development and largest to date, following its 373-home scheme at the University of Cambridge’s Eddington campus. Valorem secured outline planning consent in 2018, after buying the land in 2014. Present Made is now consulting over proposals before submitting a detailed planning application. The development will include 35% affordable housing, a primary school and an 87-acre country park. [caption id="attachment_1113002" align="aligncenter" width="847"] Present Made’s Mill View development at Thickthorn Farm in Wixam Park[/caption] Apache launched the platform earlier this year, with a £1.6bn immediate pipeline of more than net zero 3,000 homes in suburban locations and particular focus on the Oxford-Cambridge Arc. Richard Jackson, co-founder of Apache Capital and chief executive of Present Made, said: “Fundamentally, we want to do more than simply offer people a better home, we want to offer them a better lifestyle, where living sustainably is second nature. That is why we have invested heavily into the master-planning, design and development of our neighbourhoods and also considered carefully the services and amenities that we will provide onsite. “There is currently no purpose-built family rental housing in the UK despite couples with children being one of the fastest growing segments of the renting population. Present Made of Mill View will not only offer a new type of high-quality sustainable housing that is both flexible yet secure in tenure while still being attainable to people on ordinary incomes.” To send feedback, e-mail emma.rosser@eg.co.uk or tweet @EmmaARosser or @EGPropertyNews Photos: Jo Cowen Architects