Peacehaven, East Sussex, UK

Site Information

Our latest strategic land investment site is located on the eastern edge of the town of Peacehaven, a large town in the Lewes district of East Sussex. On successful allocation of the site for residential use, it is projected that investors will enjoy close to 400% return over a 3 - 5 year period. This equates to an approximately 22% annualized return.

The site is located directly adjacent to the north eastern boundary of Peacehaven and is approximately 56 acres in size of which 50% will be retained for company benefit and 50% made available for investment. Peacehaven is a large settlement that lies between the City of Brighton, Eastbourne and Lewes. The site itself is gently undulating and is currently farmed under arable rotation with access off Telscombe Road.

Our Planning Department Comments

• Peacehaven falls under the administrative authority of Lewes District Council which is in the process of completing their current Core Strategy due for adoption later this year. The site will be allocated as countryside within the plan but is not designated greenbelt. Under the South East Plan, the Lewes district has a housing target of 3000 homes that need to be delivered within the plan period and the current Core Strategy, due for adoption, will fail to meet this target requiring the council to find additional sites in their next review. Peacehaven is well supported with services making any site adjacent to it a Sustainable Urban Extension site and the land to the south of our site has already been allocated for development for 450 units.
• The site represents an excellent opportunity to secure planning allocation for residential development in the medium term. We will be promoting the site through the Core Strategy review process and subsequent Site Allocations Document for inclusion as a residential development site within 3 - 5 years.

Latest Planning Update

As stated previously, our site falls under the jurisdiction of both Lewes District Council and the South Downs National Park and, as such, the promotion of our site needs to be made to both authorities. The current SDNP Development Plan is deficient in its contribution towards housing delivery and the need for all National Parks including South Downs to greatly increase their contributions was emphasised in the updated NPPF2021.

As a result of this, the SDNP plan will need to undergo a review and this is currently timetabled to commence in August 2023 with the Call for Sites update having already commenced. The necessary representations have been made for our site.

Alongside this, work on the Lewes District Council Local Plan continues with representations having been made to the Issues and Options document earlier this year. Whilst the consultation on the Preferred Options is currently underway with our participation, Peacehaven has been identified as requiring local and cross boundary housing.