Homes England has completed the purchase of a former university site from Slough Borough Council, which will pave the way for 1,340 homes to be created as part of a regeneration plan for the town.
Developer Muse is the council’s partner for the site and will work with Homes England to begin a consultation phase as early as this summer.
The Thames Valley University plot will be home to the £650million, mixed-use North West Quadrant development, a place-changing, community-focused scheme that will help to transform the town.
Muse’s current proposal for the site includes 1,340 residential units, 25% of which will be affordable housing, alongside 467,180 sq ft of office space and 43,900 sq ft of retail and leisure space.
The council bought the former university site, which makes up the majority of the NWQ scheme, in 2017 for £24.2m.
The cash-strapped council had bought the site for over £24million in 2017 but had to put plans on hold in 2022 due to its financial difficulties.
Chris Scott, development director at Muse, said: “As a business, we’re committed to finding sustainable solutions to deliver place-changing regeneration that benefits communities across the UK in any way we can.”
“This deal in Slough with Homes England is a perfect example of how strong partnerships between the public and private sector, can overcome challenges to achieve shared goals.”
“For the past decade, through our Slough Urban Renewal joint venture, we have already successfully created much-needed affordable homes and a number of amenities, such as schools, leisure and sporting facilities in the town.”
“We’ve also secured planning on the Stoke Wharf and Montem Lane sites, which will bring forward an additional 500 mixed-tenure homes.”
Ken Glendinning, national director of acquisitions and partnering at Homes England, said: “The acquisition of the former Thames Valley University site is an important milestone in the creation of the North West Quadrant destination.”
“Our role is to connect local places and the private sector to support the creation of new, quality homes and we’re pleased to build on our long-standing partnership with Muse to bring forward this key town centre site.”
James Swindlehurst, leader of Slough Borough Council, added: “The council has spent months negotiating the details of this successful sale to Homes England of the former TVU site.”
“As a specialist regeneration organisation Homes England already has existing projects it has completed with Muse, so they will be able to hit the ground running to move forward the redevelopment of this major town centre site.”
