Weston Homes ditches £300m Norwich project

Weston Homes has scrapped plans to redevelop its 11.5-acre Anglia Square site in Norwich, which was set to deliver up to 1,100 new homes, citing a “multitude of issues” impacting viability and making funding “extremely difficult”. The redevelopment, which has been in the works for eight years, was also slated to provide up to 86,111 sq ft of commercial space as well as a community hub. The developer pointed to several issues that led to delays in the scheme and additional costs. Among these was government intervention after former communities secretary Robert Jenrick called in the scheme in 2020, which overturned initial planning consent from Norwich City Council. The ensuing planning delays meant that Weston could only draw down £7m of an allocated £15m funding from Homes England’s housing infrastructure fund, according to the developer. Other factors included the impact that the pandemic had on viability on the proposed office and retail space, a 30% rise in build cost inflation, and the nutrient neutrality directive. Weston said it has had to pay a £4m levy towards council housing provision on the back of the nutrient neutrality directive. It added that while the council approved a community infrastructure levy exemption for the first two phases, there was still a £5.4m tax bill for the final two phases. Plans were also revised to reduce the scheme’s number of homes by 100 owing to changes in government design guidelines, which Weston said further hindered viability. Weston Homes chairman and managing director Bob Weston said: “It is with deep regret that after eight years of hard work, substantial staff time and resources and some £7.5m of capital expenditure Weston Homes has been forced to cancel our plans for the redevelopment of Anglia Square. “I am personally gutted to have to write-off millions of pounds of company investment and not have a new scheme to show at the end of the venture. Weston Homes has bent-over-backwards to make this work and we have worked closely with Norwich City Council and the people of Norwich to try and realise a scheme that meets both local aspirations and is financially viable. “I would like to add that throughout the eight-year process, Norwich City Council cabinet and officers have worked tirelessly to facilitate the redevelopment of Anglia Square.” Weston added that there were “sadly no winners with this outcome” and said: “The core contributor to a lot of the issues in this saga is the Conservative government, which seems to have no understanding of the importance of supporting the housebuilding industry, regional cities and local communities in the UK. “The Ending stagnation report: A new economic strategy for Britain, recently published by the Resolution Foundation and the LSE’s Centre for Economic Performance, provided a damning criticism of the Conservative government and Anglia Square is a textbook case study that could be added to the report.” See planning information for Norwich>> Image © Weston Homes