(Alliance News) - Henry Boot PLC on Tuesday said it has agreed to sell nearly 500 of its 1,000 residential plots in Chatteris, North Cambridgeshire to Barratt Developments PLC.

The Sheffield, England-based property developer said its land promotion and planning business, Hallam Land Management Ltd, sold 494 residential plots to the David Wilson Homes Ltd division of FTSE 100 constituent Barratt Developments.

Hallam Land Management had originally secured a planning promotion agreement for the Chatteris site in 2005 on behalf of the British Steel Pension Fund Trustee Ltd. The company had successfully in 2020 secured planning consent for 1,000 residential plots, of which it will retain 506 for future sale.

Henry Boot didn't provide the sale price. However, it said the sale will be completed in July 2024 and will represent an ungeared internal rate of return of 15% per annum, Henry Boot said.

The completed Chatteris site will include a primary school, local community centre, green infrastructure, playing fields and seven acres of office, industrial, storage or distribution facilities. The Grade II-listed Chatteris Tithe Barn will be renovated and restored.

Henry Boot Chief Executive Officer Tim Roberts said: "This sale demonstrates the continued demand we see for our premium sites, and is particularly encouraging given the challenging market backdrop, with lower transaction volumes.

"This disposal underscores our team's experience in securing planning permission on complex sites and navigating them through an increasingly onerous planning system, enabling us to sell them to housebuilders and accelerate the delivery of much-needed homes across the UK."

Henry Boot shares were down 0.3% to 179.48 pence each in London on Tuesday morning.

By Emily Parsons, Alliance News reporter

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