THE firm set up to regenerate redundant Yorkshire Water land has unveiled ambitious plans to help solve Yorkshire’s housing crisis.
Keyland Developments has introduced a “pioneering new housing delivery model” it believes will ensure the fast delivery of sustainable communities.
The property trading arm of Kelda Group and sister company to Yorkshire Water, says the model will be underpinned by a set of environmental, social and financial measures which will be tracked by a unique valuation tool – a first for the UK.
After more than 20 years regenerating redundant land, Keyland has spent the last five years extending its services to other landowners through its Planning Promotional Agreement (PPA) initiative.
This has resulted in eight residential developments totalling over 4,000 homes around Yorkshire.
With the PPAs now forming half of Keyland’s residential business, the team is focussing its next five-year business plan on growing this side of the business by working with major landowners, including local authorities, to bring forward land to help unlock the housing crisis.
The firm is also behind plans for an exemplar sustainable development in Esholt.
Keyland claims that the current UK model of volume housing delivery doesn’t support sustainable housing delivery or the requirements of individual councils to meet demand for different types of homes.
Therefore, the company set about devising a way to ensure new homes are procured in a way that creates truly sustainable communities, with a key focus on improving energy efficiency and water resilience.
To create a blueprint for sustainability, they will use a valuation tool to calculate direct, indirect and enabled value delivered from its developments.
Peter Garrett, MD of Keyland Developments, said; “This is an incredibly exciting time for Keyland. Having successfully built our PPA business over the last five years, we now have bold ambitions to be the development enabler of choice for both private and public sector landowners both across the county.
“It’s our view that the existing model of housing delivery simply will not solve the housing crisis in Yorkshire as it does not support council policy, nor will it easily deliver truly sustainable development. “By implementing our ‘Six Capitals’ model and evaluating the non-financial values alongside the financial, we can take a more holistic approach and ensure that the total value of a development is explicitly considered.
“Crucially, our master developer role will address the mix of uses being delivered and incorporate the self/custom-build model which we see as being increasingly important to the future of residential development. In short, we’re looking to change how houses are built and how they are bought.”
From now on, Keyland intends to apply the Six Capitals approach across the land that it owns, as well as helping inform its work with partners and local councils to fully realise its ambitions of creating truly sustainable neighbourhoods.
Keyland owns 1,300 acres of land across the Yorkshire region and is currently involved in promoting more than 8,500 homes and 4.5million sq ft of commercial space – the most in its history.
Gaynor Craigie, manager of land and property at Yorkshire Water said: “We are delighted that Keyland Developments Ltd has adopted the Six Capitals approach across the land it owns and promotes. The Six Capitals provides a strong model of sustainability which places an emphasis on living within the limits of the natural environment and developing strategies that grow all capitals.
“These support Yorkshire Water’s overarching ‘total impact’ philosophy. The aim is to improve natural, social, human, intellectual, manufactured and financial capital and deliver benefits to its customers and stakeholders across Yorkshire.”
