HCA publishes proposed sale schedule for 240 hectares of public land

The Land Development and Disposal Plan (20-page / 630 KB PDF) lists 125 sites, of which 82 are already on the market and 43 are proposed to be marketed by the fourth quarter of 2016/17. The government said more than 20% of the sites have already been granted outline or detailed planning permission.

Sites listed in the schedule include the 49 hectare Lea Castle Hospital development site near Kidderminster, which is allocated in the Wyre Forest local plan for mixed use development including housing and is expected to be brought to market the third quarter of 2016/17.

Other land proposed for housing use include the 20 hectare Appleton Cross 3 development site in Warrington; 19 hectares of land at the former Brodsworth Colliery in Doncaster; 12 hectares at the former Sideway Colliery in Stoke on Trent; and another 12 hectares of land across seven residential sites in Basildon.

The HCA said it was happy to discuss sites which are not included in its plan. Details of all sites held by the HCA are available from the Government Property Finder website, which was set up in August 2014.

Planning expert Lucy Close of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said: "The potential benefits of the Plan are twofold: there will be more land available to meet housing demands and there will be a return for the public purse. As there is a large amount of public land which has potential to be used for residential development, bringing this land to the market quickly will have a positive impact on housing delivery.  ."

A further update to the Land Development and Disposal Plan is due to be published in April.