Inland finalises huge Cavalry Barracks permission

Housebuilder and land trader Inland Homes has finalised a section 106 agreement with Hounslow Council regarding its flagship 1,525-home Cavalry Barracks development just outside of Heathrow.

The signing of the deal, under which 35% of the homes will be built as affordable housing, represents one of the last major hurdles to Inland receiving around £20m in fees owed for its work on the project.

Inland does not own the Cavalry Barracks scheme but is managing its development on behalf of an unnamed external investor.

The firm said the 36.7-acre project will result in the retention of 14 Grade II listed buildings and nine locally listed buildings, and create 10.6 acres of green space and 2,700 sq m of commercial space. Nish Malde, interim chief executive officer at Inland Homes said the consent demonstrated Inland’s success in “working collaboratively with local Councils to secure planning consent on complex brownfield sites.”

The news follows a torrid period for AIM-listed Inland, which currently has its shares suspended due to non-filing of its accounts. The firm was unable to finalise its accounts after a number of “related party issues” were unearthed related to board members who have since stepped down.

Inland has been in difficulty since the co-founder and long-time chief executive Stephen Wicks resigned after the firm published a profit warning in September. The man hired to replace him, Don O’Sullivan, promptly left after just a few weeks, prior to another significant profit warning, and the unearthing of the related party issues.

The firm has said it expects to make a loss of more than £90m for the year to September 30 2022.

Last October the firm said that signing the Section 106 agreement at Cavalry Barracks would allow Inland to move on to supporting the investor through to a site disposal plan, which will then “crystallise the value and facilitate the payment of the fees earned by the Group.”

said then it had “to date, accrued fees at achieved project milestones of £19.5m”.

Nish Malde said: “Cavalry Barracks, Hounslow is an exceptional site and we have worked closely with the London Borough of Hounslow to agree the terms of the Section 106 agreement and achieve this significant planning consent.

“With the consent granted, we look forward to supporting the external investors behind this impressive development and in that delivering regeneration and prosperity for Hounslow.”