The Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and Hampshire County Council in the UK have signed the Public-private partnership (PPP) agreement with Urban&Civic and Wellcome Trust for GBP 1.2 billion (USD 1.6 billion) Manydown garden community development project.

The Manydown Development Vehicle LLP will deliver 3,500 new homes, 40% of which will be affordable; a 250-acre country park; two primary schools with land reserved for a potential new secondary school; two local centers; businesses; shops and community facilities, as a sustainable garden community.

It is the first phase of one of the largest residential-led development schemes in South East England, on 2,000 acres of land in public ownership, and is one of the major projects in the government’s garden communities program set for delivery. The long-term scheme will be an important part of the region’s economic prosperity, creating thousands of jobs and providing up to 10,000 new homes in the longer term.

Following the resolution to grant outline planning permission on July 8, 2020, work is now underway, through the new partnership, to enable a start on site in late 2021. The partnership will start engagement with residents, local groups and businesses in the coming months as it starts to draw up the detailed plans for Manydown. This will be ahead of submitting the first planning applications for early infrastructure and the layouts and designs for the initial phase of new homes. Early estimations are that Manydown could be welcoming its first residents within three years. This allows time for the next stages of the planning process, including community engagement and further consultation. This would be followed by infrastructure work on site, including access roads and utilities, paving the way for building homes, alongside wider community facilities.

Urban&Civic, supported by the Wellcome Trust, was chosen as the councils’ preferred private sector partner in February 2018 after a comprehensive procurement process, with the extensive contracts to formalise the partnership developed over the following 18 months.

Mills & Reeve advised Urban&Civic on unique partnership arrangements with Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and Hampshire County Council and also with the global charitable foundation, the Wellcome Trust.  Lawyers at the firm advised Urban&Civic (and also a joint venture vehicle owned by Urban&Civic and the Wellcome Trust) on all of the detailed partnership agreements, finance agreements and property and development agreements.