New venture from ex-Avant boss submits first plans

Honey, the new venture of former Avant Homes boss Mark Mitchell, has put in plans for a £14m, 50-home development in South Normanton, Derbyshire. 

If approved, work on the scheme, called Amber, will start in this spring with residents moving in this December. 

The plans include 14 housetypes that Honey has said have been designed to combine “style, substance and sustainability” and include “flexible use of all living spaces”. Each property will have an electric vehicle charging point. 

Mitchell started Honey, which is backed by private equity firm Alchemy Partners, in October last year. 

He said of the Amber development: “We have worked very hard to ensure all our homes will provide buyers with an ideal combination of style, substance and sustainability.

“We know there is strong demand for high quality, high specification new homes in South Normanton so we are pleased to submit our plans for consideration by Bolsover District Council.”

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The South Normanton homes would be between two and four-bedroomed on a 4.5-acre stretch of land and built to the Future Homes Standard, ahead of the 2025 deadline. The prices of the properties will start at £184,950 for a two-bedroom, mid-terrace. 

Honey is also pledging to make a £160,000 contribution to initiatives that will benefit the local community, if planning permission is granted. 

The Sheffield-based firm is also looking to construct homes on another site in South Yorkshire, as well as two more sites in Derbyshire and South Yorkshire. The two further sites could deliver 148 news homes with a combined GDV of £47m. 

Alchemy Partners previously worked with Mitchell at Avant, who left the firm shortly after it was taken over by Berkeley DeVeer in a deal spearheaded by controversial former Persimmon boss Jeff Fairburn. 

Mitchell was chief operating officer before he replaced Colin Lewis as chief executive of Avant in 2020. Colin Lewis had left immediately after the Berkeley DeVeer takeover, citing fears the quality of the firm’s product would fall under the new ownership.