AN area of land in Co Down with full planning permission for 498 residential units has gone on the market for £13.7 million.
The Beverley Garden Village project in Newtownards has been described by Irish property firm Savills as one of the largest residential development opportunities to hit the market in the north in recent years.
Savills has been instructed to market the site by Bangor property company Dunlop Group.
Now headed by Robert Dunlop, the family-owned business has been letting properties in the north Down and Ards area since 1921.
The site is situated 1.3 miles from the centre of Newtownards and covers around 72 acres, of which, some 57 acres has been earmarked for almost 500 new homes.
The planning approval extends to a mix of detached, semi-detached and apartment units.
Commenting on the sale, Neal Morrison, director at Savills Northern Ireland said the asking price of just under £14m represented around £190,000 per acre, or £27,500 per plot.
“Ready-to-go residential development sites in Northern Ireland are a rare commodity – particularly of the scale on offer at Beverley Garden Village.
“The site’s proximity to Belfast – around 30 minutes by car – will undoubtedly serve as an attractive proposition to prospective homebuyers working in the capital.
“Therefore, we expect demand from both developers and investors throughout the sales process to be strong.”
Mr Morrison described the housing market in the north as among the most confident in the UK, with five years of increasing prices with further growth predicted.
“According to UK Finance, there were 2,440 new first-time buyer mortgages completed in Northern Ireland in the first quarter of 2019, this is an 11.4% increase compared to Q1 in 2018.”
