Keyland Developments, the property trading arm of Kelda Group and sister-company to Yorkshire Water, has sold its interests in Templegate Developments Limited to joint venture partner Evans Property Group for an undisclosed sum.
Templegate Developments Limited is the company behind Skelton Gate, a 170-acre former open-cast colliery site to the east of Junction 45 of the M1.
To date the partnership of Evans and Keyland has secured planning permission for Phases 1 & 2 which includes up to 1,100 homes, a new school, public open space, a local centre and a food store. An application is currently running for Phase 3, which, if approved, will provide an additional 700 homes and infrastructure.
A £20M Home Building Fund loan from Homes England is funding the delivery of infrastructure and ground preparation works for all phases.
In addition to enabling the creation of more than 500 new construction and operational jobs, the scheme is already making a significant contribution to the region’s housing targets following the successful sale of the 27 acre Phase 1 in January 2022 to Avant Homes and Evans Homes for the delivery of a combined 415 homes.
Phase 2, at circa 31 acres, will be sold fully serviced to a housebuilder to bring forward.
Skelton Gate is being developed and built using key principles of sustainable development whilst delivering a residentially led mixed-use scheme of high quality and design. Following the sale of Keyland’s interests, Evans will continue to drive the successful development forward.
Peter Garrett, Managing Director of Keyland Developments, said: “At Keyland our focus is on the early stages of the development process, using our expertise to secure planning consents on complex sites and to overcome obstacles to development.
“We are incredibly proud of our work unlocking the Skelton Gate site for development to enable a major contribution to the Leeds City Region in terms of new homes, community amenities and the job creation throughout the construction and development phases.
“Passing on our interest in this project to our partners at Evans will allow us to concentrate our efforts on our growing Planning Promotional Agreement (PPA) business and on unlocking further opportunities from Yorkshire Water’s 70,000 acre land portfolio.”
Rob Marshall, UK Managing Director, Evans Property Group, said: “The Skelton Gate site is one of the most significant in the Leeds City Region and our successful, long-term partnership with Keyland Developments has brought the scheme to an exciting stage.
“Three housebuilders are already building and selling houses on Phase 1 of the scheme; Avant Homes, Vistry and our own Evans Homes business. By acquiring 100% of Phase 2 and 3 we have secured a significant pipeline for Evans Homes as we continue to grow that business, adding to existing sites at Tockwith and Skelton, and future sites at Whinmoor and Brayton.
“We thank our valued partners Keyland for their work on the scheme up to this point and for opportunity to follow our growth strategy for our Evans Homes residential business.”
