Albion sign £170m deal with upmarket developer

A major deal has moved a step closer to bring 600 new homes and an Ikea store to Sussex after the club’s subsidiary, New Monks Farm Development, signed a deal with upmarket housebuilder CALA Homes (South Home Counties) to develop on the site in Lancing.

The next stage will be the submission of a planning application which could finally bring the Swedish furniture retailer to Sussex by 2019. The scheme will provide one sixth of the homes required by the Adur local plan which runs until 2032 and the deal has a commitment that 30% of the homes built will need to be affordable.

CALA currently have five ongoing sites in Sussex with property prices ranging from £299,500 to £635,000 and recently completed Schemes in Crawley and Midhurst where prices start from £975,000. Talks between Albion and CALA, which describes itself as the “most upmarket major housebuilder”, have been going on for several months.

The development will contribute £11 million to the local economy, create over 1,000 jobs, and bring £40 million of transport and road improvements. Also included in the plans is a 28 Hectare country park to keep a gap between Shoreham and Lancing and Albion are forming a company to manage flood risk issues at the site

The director of New Monks Farm Development, Martin Perry, said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with CALA Homes to deliver new homes on this site.”

“New Monks Farm is of strategic importance to Adur District Council because it contains the largest allocation of new homes in their emerging Local Plan.”

“We have been impressed by the quality of housing that CALA intend to provide and their development will provide greatly needed high quality new homes in the Lancing area.”