Glenveagh Properties, one of the biggest homebuilders in the State, has opened up a new front to add to its land and development pipeline, with an offer to partner farmers and other owners of zoned sites near urban areas.
The move comes as Glenveagh has noted a sharp decline in the amount of development land coming to the market in the past 18 months — and as local authorities prepare to release draft maps marking out which landowners will be subject to a 3 per cent annual tax on zoned land from 2024.
The partnership campaign is focused on owners of land of eight acres or more which is zoned for residential development in towns or cities nationwide, Glenveagh, which is led by Stephen Garvey, said in a statement on Tuesday.
A spokesman for Glenveagh said the listed builder’s partnership plan is to pay an upfront non-refundable deposit to owners of land it is interested in developing to allow the company progress a planning application on the site.
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A price for the land would be agreed with the landowner in advance of exchange of contracts, typically based an agreed sum for every residential unit built, the spokesman said. Glenveagh would only acquire the land on receipt of planning permission.
The landowner would stand to make more money through such a partnership deal than by selling land with zoning for residential development, but without planning or services. For Glenveagh, the plan allows it to avoid paying upfront for land and taking a risk on securing planning permission.
“We are always looking to identify new areas, in particular land already zoned for residential development, to create and support communities,” the spokesman. “Working in partnership with the landowners, we provide support, expertise and experience throughout the development process, with teams that specialise in sustainability, planning and design, manufacturing, procurement and construction management.”
Glenveagh is currently active on 23 construction sites capable of delivering more than 4,500 houses and apartments. It spent €15.7 million on four site acquisitions in the first half of the year.
All told, the group’s land portfolio is estimated to be capable of delivering 15,300 units and was valued at about €500 million as of the end of June.
The company is targeting the delivery of 1,400 homes this year, rising to an annual delivery rate of 3,000 homes in the coming years.
The construction sector has seen significant increased material costs over the past 12 months due to a range of issues, including continuing supply chain constraints, commodity price increases, the impacts of escalating energy costs and fuel cost inflation in relation to transportation.
Glenveagh said in its interim report, issued last month, that it had managed to keep its overall cost price inflation in check at 8-9 per cent — even as it is materials bill jumped more than 10 per cent — as a result the scale of its business, long-term arrangements with supply chain partners and its own off-site timber frame manufacturing facilities.
