Land company Harworth Group has purchased two strategic land sites in the Midlands in a bid to accelerate the expansion of its strategic land bank.
Both sites have been purchased using part of the £27.1 million raised from the company’s equity placing in March, and are projected to deliver returns above Harworth’s double-digit target rate of return. The sites also sit adjacent to existing Harworth landholdings, thus generating additional value when combined.
“Growing and expanding our strategic landbank is fundamental to delivering continued value to our shareholders and both purchases provide clear long-term value adding opportunities,” commented CEO Owen Michaelson. “The outlook in the Midlands market remains healthy, driven by comparatively low prices, a lack of housing land supply and the scarcity of good quality new commercial units. Good progress has also been made in securing other land and property targets identified in March’s equity placing. We, therefore, expect that all of the funds raised in March will be committed by the year end.”
The move cements the fact that the development market for both residential and commercial buildings is holding up in the region.
During the first half of 2017 Harworth, which owns and manages more than 22,000 acres of land across 140 sites, sold 358 residential plots and 564,000 sq ft of commercial space.
It has continued to buy sites in the north of England and the Midlands in order to expand its pipeline and has ambitions to expand into other regions of the UK.
