Vita Group secures £43m funding for third Newcastle city centre student housing scheme
A £43m funding package is driving forward a new student accommodation scheme in Newcastle. Puma Property Finance has announced it has given a the multimillion-pound loan to Vita Group to fund the development of its third student accommodation project in Newcastle. Vita Group is constructing the property on Leazes Park Road, having struck a deal for the site of former Barker and Stonehouse furniture store. Demolition teams have been busy clearing the site to make way for Vita Student Leazes Park, a 260-bed purpose build student scheme, after the luxury furnishing company moved out, having sold it for more than £5m. Puma Property Finance has announced it has given a the multimillion-pound loan to Vita Group to fund the development of its third student accommodation project in Newcastle, which sits close to the Newcastle University campus and Northumbria University’s main campus. New images have been released by the operator, showing how Vita Student Leazes Park will have amenities including a gym, bookable private dining and study rooms, a private landscaped courtyard and basketball court. Every bedroom will also have a high-quality fit-out, and floor to ceiling windows. Developers and operators Vita Student plan to have the new building ready for students to move in ahead of the September 2026 academic year. The scheme is Vita’s third student development in Newcastle, based close to its other sites in Strawberry Place and on Westgate Road, close to central station. The company’s first building in the city was launched around 10 years ago, when Vita Westgate was created on land once occupied by the former Westgate House, a building which was knocked down in 2007 following a campaign for its demolition. The neighbouring Norwich Union House was also taken down to make way for the new structure. The £43m deals marks the third scheme that Puma has partnered with Vita on, having previously given the business a £24m loan for a 269-bed development in Belfast in September 2022 and the December 2024 Edinburgh development. Max Bielby, chief operating officer for Vita Group, said: “This development in Newcastle marks our third in the city and we are delighted to be continuing to provide incoming students with high-class accommodation and facilities. We are looking forward to seeing this development come to life over the coming months in partnership with Puma.”
Northern developers Placefirst and Strata launch housebuilding joint venture
Two Northern developers have come together to launch a joint venture that aims to create hundreds of family homes using modern construction methods. Build to rent developer-operator Placefirst, which is based in Salford, has partnered with Doncaster housebuilder Strata to form a 50:50 joint venture with plans to deliver more than 500 single-family homes by 2028. The new company will start with a development to create 128 homes at Strata’s ‘Desire’ development near Thorpe Park, Leeds. The homes will be built using Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), enabling them to be delivered significantly faster and more sustainably than traditional building approaches. That approach will include the use of timber to improve insulation and reduce energy costs for residents. The companies’ framework agreement has already identified a further 221 homes for delivery across the UK. Anna Hwang, chief investment officer of Placefirst, said: “Our ambition to deliver more quality homes across the UK comes down to a simple belief: renters deserve better. For too long, poor-quality housing with unstable tenancies has been the norm in the UK’s rental market. We know the only way to solve this problem is deliver more expertly-built, professionally-operated rental homes – whether through building them ourselves or through collaborative partnerships. “This partnership with Strata is one such example and represents an important step forward in our mission. Combining our expertise, we can deliver sustainable homes at scale faster than ever before. Through our shared commitment to creating places where residents don’t just live but thrive, we will deliver a homeowner-quality living experience for our renters.” Gemma Smith, chief executive officer at Strata, said: “This partnership with Placefirst is a natural progression for Strata as we continue evolving to become an innovative multi tenure home builder. We believe everyone should have the opportunity to live in a home that is beautifully designed, build to high quality and energy efficient, whether buying or renting. “We have designed a collection of homes for the single-family rental market, retaining the signature Strata style inside and out. We have worked with Placefirst to carefully consider the internal specification and ensure the homes offer everything a resident will be hoping for. “We see it as our role to create communities that will in turn improve the lives of generations to come. By joining forces, we can expand this vision and not only deliver more high-quality homes in areas of need, but use our combined experience to ensure our developments retain a strong sense of community and meet the needs of residents today and in the future.”
Yorkshire's Harworth Group announces record residential plot sales of £104m for 2024
Yorkshire property business Harworth Group has announced record residential plot sales in its fourth quarter, helping to double plot sales for the year to £104.1m. The Rotherham-based company, which specialises in regeneration of land and property for sustainable development and investment, completed 1,896 residential plot sales worth £71.7m in the final quarter of 2024. The record figure brings total residential plot sales for the year to 2,385, up from 1,170 plots, with a total headline sales value of £104.1m - almost doubling the previous year's figure of £52.1m. The group said the volume of sales reflects continued strong demand for Harworth's residential land product, as well as success on its strategy to accelerate delivery of residential sites and broaden its range of products. It said the sales were broadly in line with, or ahead of, the June 2024 book values, and that its residential land pipeline now totals 31,264 plots, with 15% already consented, putting it on track to support delivery of the UK's housing targets across its regions. Key transactions within the housing sector last year included its largest deal at its Coalville development in Leicestershire, where it sold 357 plots to Taylor Wimpey, and at Simpson Park, Nottinghamshire, where the group sold 530 plots to Stonebridge and Bellway Homes. Meanwhile at Pheasant Hill Park based on the former Rossington colliery site in South Yorkshire - a key part of a wider Gateway to the Sheffield City region project - the group completed sales of 282 plots to Homes by Honey and Great Places, bringing the total plots sold to 927. Lynda Shillaw, chief executive of Harworth Group, said: "Throughout the year we continued to see healthy demand for our high quality de-risked serviced land, and notably we also completed two major land sales at our Skelton Grange and Ansty developments in December, for £106.3m. The proceeds from these sales will be reinvested into our Industrial & Logistics development programme to continue creating value for our stakeholders.
Cardiff's Debenhams department store now nearly fully demolished
The Debenhams department store in the city centre is now no longer. Photos show the scale of the demolition work that has been completed at the site of the store, which used to be one of the busiest in the capital. The city's Debenhams was first built in 1981 and opened the following year as one of the cornerstones of the original St David's shopping arcade. The vast shopping area spread over several floors was open for 39 years before the 242-year-old chain went into administration in 2021. In a sign of the huge changes that city centre retail have faced in recent years, the site remained empty for several years before the owners of the St David's shopping centre, Land Securities, submitted plans last August to demolish the site and replace it with a public square. Today, almost the entire interior of the site has been demolished leaving only the facade of the building In place of Debenhams, Land Securities (Landsec) has plans to change the area into a public square. The plans include a water fountain splash pad, a performance stage as well as the possibility for the space to be used to host markets, local street food vendors and other events. The city centre landowning giant has said its £17m plan will create a 102,000 square foot public space surrounded by two new restaurants, smaller kiosk-style units opening onto the square for food and beverages and a leisure space. Helen Morgan, centre director at St David's Cardiff, said: "The development of a new city square on the former Debenhams site is very exciting for St David's and for the city. This investment means we can unlock the potential of this currently under-used area and bring life and value back to this part of Cardiff.
Plans for 30-storey apartment scheme in the centre of Cardiff
Plans for a new skyscraper on top of where a popular Cardiff bar once stood has taken another step forward. Developers behind plans for the tower block at Harlech Court in the city centre lodged a planning application in December 2024. A development to build on top of Harlech Court were first announced in 2021 with reports stating at the time that the structure would be 35 storeys high and Wales' tallest building. The plans submitted by Draycott Group show that their proposal is now for a building up to 30 storeys in height. A design and access statement produced by CWA Architects on behalf of the developers states that the building will contribute "to the city centre's housing supply targets in a very sustainable location". It also states that the initial vision was to "deliver a proposal within the established tall building group" but also that "it needed to be fiscally deliverable". Don't miss the latest news and analysis with our regular Wales newsletters – sign up here for free Cardiff Council gave the go-ahead to the demolition of Harlech Court in July. The new building, replacing the 1970s office block and the former home of popular bar Porter's, will consist of 340 apartments and units of mixed use on the lower floors. In the design and access statement it says there could be a gym, cafe, lounges, and a shop. On the type of apartments it adds: "The mix is predicted towards one-bed units with less two-bed units. Studios are not preferred especially with the emergence of the co-living market in Cardiff." A number of developments proposed for Cardiff city centre over the years have been seen as successors to the tallest building in Wales - currently The Tower in Swansea (107m). Cardiff Council granted planning permission for a 42-storey building in Custom House Street in 2016 but work on the development is still not complete. Developers Watkin Jones said in June 2023 it was considering the future development potential of the site and work was on hold due to "challenging wider market circumstances". More recently an application for a screening opinion in relation to the site was made on behalf of the developers. A screening opinion is a request made to a council to determine whether a proposed development requires an environmental impact assessment. The application states that it is in respect of the proposed development of a co-living building with flexible ground- and first-floor uses.
Take up of office space in Cardiff in 2024 the best for seven years
Take-up of office space in Cardiff had its best year in 2024 for seven years with the letting of the 1 John Street building to Lloyds the standout deal. With the headline rent for the city increasing to £28 per sq ft, the year saw letting deals totalling 581 643 sq ft, according to research by property consultancy Knight Frank. In the highest level of take-up since 2017, the rate was more than double that in 2023. The final quarter of the year contributed 247,137 sq ft, the highest quarterly return since Q3 2017. The final quarter saw Lloyds agreeing a 10-year lease for the entire speculatively built 113,000 sq ft 1 John Street building from developer JR Smart in the city centre. The bank's new hub for 3,000 staff will be completed later this year, with Lloyds taking occupancy of the grade A building in the second quarter of 2026. Mark Sutton, office agency partner in Knight Frank’s Cardiff office, said: “There were 92 office deals concluded in the year with an average deal size of 6,322 sq ft, more than double the figure for last year and 40 per cent ahead of the 10 year average.” Prime rents for the city moved onto £28 per sq ft in Q3, with occupiers continuing to focus on prime space with just 16 grade A deals accounting for 45 per cent of the quarter’s take up. Mr Sutton said:“With continued demand for the best quality space we will see the availability of grade A space continue to decline in 2025 and this will translate to further pressure on rents, pushing them beyond £30 per sq ft this year.” Office vacancy rates inclusive of out-of-town areas stood at 11% the end of 2024. Mr Sutton added:“The stand out deal of 2024 was Lloyds Bank signing up to take a lease of 1 John Street, a stand alone 113,000 sq ft office building at the head of Callaghan Square in the heart of Cardiff’s central business district,” Other notable deals in the city centre included professional advisory frim PWC signing up for 33,166 sq ft at 1 Central Square, and Aldermore Bank’s move across to the 28,098 sq ft 2 Central Square, along with the sale of the 50,934 sq ft Wilcox House at Celtic Gateway. Cardiff Gate led the out of town deals with Welsh Government’s acquisition of the 51,411 sq ft Centre 7 to create a new hub for the semiconductor industry. Overall, the financial services and banking sector took centre stage in 2024 with the 17 deals in this sector totalling 253,057 sq ft and accounting for more than half of the year’s total take up, High-profile deals in the sector also included expansion from Starling Bank at Brunel, and Go Compare’s move to Hodge House. Looking at availability in 2025 Mr Sutton said: “With no new buildings being delivered in 2025 the severe lack of prime office space will be a continued trend for the year ahead. Grade A availability has dropped below 300,000 sq ft and with several live requirements between 15,000 and 50,000 sq ft the competition for space is hotting up. “The market continues to polarise and there is activity where landlords have created - or are investing to create - a suitable standard of office space with the right environment and amenities. Secondary locations or where landlords have not yet invested will continue to struggle. "We are seeing better occupancy levels across the sector with businesses using flexible workplace strategies but with an increased focus on staff being in the office. Businesses remain focused on creating a better environment to achieve corporate goals, retain and attract staff and to future proof their occupational assets.”