29 April 2013
Nearly 40 self build plots are being planned as an addition to the Newcastle Great Park (NGP) scheme – a large urban extension to the north of the city centre.
Last October, The Self Build Portal reported that mainstream housebuilder Persimmon Homes was proposing to include a number of self build serviced plots on the NGP development.
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The 39 plots will be on part of the site known as Cell C, and will be available in five different sizes to meet a range of budgets.
Dominic Smith, assistant planner at Persimmon, said: “There are several different house builders involved on the development, all aiming at different housing markets. One of the reasons we’ve put some self build units on this site is to try and open up another market. The opportunity has arisen because the land that the self build plots are to go on originally had permission for commercial use and this planning application is changing it to residential.”
“It’s an experiment to see whether self build can take off as part of this urban extension”, Mr Smith added.
Purchasers would buy the serviced plot with outline planning permission submit their detailed designs and then have 12 months to ‘deliver’ the plot. A design code sets out a series of rules which they would need to comply with, but on the whole gives a degree of flexibility. It is understood that the homes would be built by local builders and not the Persimmon team.
The average size of the individual plots is around 635m2. Peter Jordan, divisional land and planning director for Persimmon, said: “This is Newcastle Great Park – it’s a desirable place, with a higher captive audience in the Newcastle conurbation for these plots. As we stand, the exact prices have not been set. However I would think, judging where they are, that they will all be in excess of £100,000.”
