About us - Land acquisition

ABOUT US

Land Acquisition

Living up to
our reputation

Our ethos of doing what’s right to the highest possible standard applies to every area of our work, including land acquisition. Our approach to buying land has earned us a reputation for fairness, efficiency and for securing the best outcome for everyone.

Expert

Our skilled and experienced land team will work closely with you throughout the process.

Responsive

Because we’re independent, we move quickly – so you’ll have our decision without delay.

Value

Our reputation for excellence precedes us and helps maximise your land value.

Empathy

We understand land has an emotional resonance, so we create a legacy you can be proud of.

Tailored,
flexible,
committed

Every piece of land is unique, so we tailor our method to you and the land you’re selling. We believe the best approach is a personal one, so you’ll meet a member of our land team face-to-face as soon as possible.

We understand the importance of flexibility, too. Sometimes we buy land with planning permission, sometimes without. Sometimes we develop in partnership with the landowner, sometimes we look at different ways of funding the sale.

We also believe in embracing and overcoming challenge to transform a site into a Hopkins Homes development. If we see your plot of land has potential, we’ll move heaven and earth to realise it.

What we're
looking for

From concept to completion, our in-house team of experts advise, masterplan, design and deliver developments that offer people beautiful homes, and you the best possible value. If you own land in East Anglia that you feel would suit development according with the following criteria, do please get in touch:

  • Greenfield or brownfield sites across Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire and adjoining counties.
  • Sites that can deliver residential or mixed-use opportunities with short-, medium- or long-term potential.
  • Strategic land that can be promoted through the planning system
    • Unconditional purchase
    • Subject to planning
    • Option agreement
    • Joint venture
    • Build licence

CASE STUDIES

Joint Venture at Alconbury Weald

Hopkins Homes was selected as the initial Joint Venture Partner to deliver the first phase of 128 homes at Alconbury Weald by Urban & Civic. The development was the first phase of a 5,000 unit scheme on the former airfield adjacent to the A1 which covers in region of 1,420 acres.

The Development was a stand-alone site and therefore required a partner to deliver the first phase and make sure a high-end scheme with premium design credentials could deliver sales and most importantly add value for future phases.

Through the first phase, significant increases in value were seen and this resulted in Urban & Civic being able to attract further developers on site; and Hopkins Homes remains a key part of the development, now delivering a further 189 units on the next phase.

Bury St Edmunds, Abbots Vale - Strategic Promotion

Hopkins Homes, along with Strategic Partner, Pigeon Bury East Ltd, managed to assemble numerous land-ownerships to secure 155 acres of land between 2006 and 2011 under a number of legal agreements, to enable the promotion of a large residential development to the East of Bury St Edmunds.

Hopkins Homes was instrumental in putting a strong and professional team together to create a vision for the growth area and the design, technical and planning work enabled the site to be promoted through the Local Plan.

In December 2015 an Outline Planning Application for 1,250 units was submitted to the Planning Authority and in March 2020 an Outline Planning Permission was secured.

Melbourn, Kingley Grove - Unconditional Purchase

In October 2016 Bidwells LLP, on behalf of Peterhouse College Cambridge, offered the site at Melbourn to the market with the benefit of an outline planning consent in place for 199 residential units.

Due to the site being located in the competitive area of South Cambridgeshire, Bidwells achieved a great deal of interest on behalf of their clients and we understand in the region of 12 developers submitted a formal proposal for the site. Hopkins Homes was shortlisted as part of this process and started engaging with the landowners and their agents.

Peterhouse College was looking to maximise value through the disposal of their asset but also make sure that the site they had owned for over 500 years was developed in a way which would leave a legacy they could be proud of. Hopkins Homes managed to deliver on both these elements and in August 2017 completed the purchase of the land.

Church Farm, Drayton - Subject to Planning

The land was owned by Drayton Farms Limited, part of the RG Carter Group. The Group has their Head Office in Drayton and has been present in the village for more than 100 years.

It was very important for the Group to be working alongside a reputable housebuilder, such as Hopkins Homes, with similar core values and the desire to provide a legacy development on their “home patch”.

The site had the benefit of an outline planning permission for 250 units when we became involved in the project. Hopkins Homes completed the land purchase once in receipt of the detailed planning permission, which provided an enhanced land value to the landowners. We designed the detailed layout to provide a more workable scheme and increased the scope of the proposed development to 267 units.

The development is currently under construction offering a range of 1-5 bedroom homes, including affordable housing. The scheme also incorporates a parcel of land which will allow the Doctors Surgery to extend their premises to cater for the additional patients in the area.

This is a fine example of how Hopkins Homes can offer additional value to a project through innovative design and providing exceptional homes through close negotiation with the Local Planning Authority.

Church View, Bramford - Option Agreement

In 2017, we were successfully building and selling on our Willowbrook development at the northern end of Bramford, a popular village approximately 3 miles to the north west of Ipswich. It was an excellent location, so we sought a further site, enabling us to continue our presence in the village once the development had finished.

We identified a parcel of land to the south of Fitzgerald Road, at the opposite end of the village with potential for development and approached the landowner’s agent. We were successful in securing an Option Agreement with the landowner in 2018 and set about promoting the land through the Local Plan process.

Following detailed negotiation with the Local Authority we submitted a planning application for 115 units and were successful in securing an outline planning permission in Autumn 2021.

In September 2021 we received Reserved Matters approval for our proposed development and entered price negotiations with the landowners and their agents to establish the land value.

The price was agreed and the land was acquired in December 2022 with build on site commencing early 2023

Speak to our experienced land team for confidential expert advice and guidance

Matt Ward

Land Director

01394 446 910
07917 171 997
Neil Griffiths, Senior Land Manager, Hopkins Homes

Neil Griffiths

Senior Land Manager

01394 446 866
07788 724 984
James Rackham, Senior Land Estimator, Hopkins Homes

James Rackham

Senior Land Estimator

01394 446 913
07475 039 420
Tim Eyton-Jones, Senior Land Manager at Hopkins Homes

Tim Eyton-Jones

Senior Land Manager

Laura Townes, Strategic Land Manager, Hopkins Homes

Laura Townes

Strategic Land Manager

01394 446828
07469 619760
Graham Watts, Pre-Development Technical Manager, Hopkins Homes

Graham Watts

Pre-Development Technical Manager

01394 446810
07880 737871
Anna Keeble, Land Estimator, Hopkins Homes

Anna Keeble

Land Estimator

01394 813072
07908 956752
Headshot lady

Sophie Rose

PA to Land Director and Land team

01394 446982
07734 900465