Homes England are selling land at Panshanger Aerodrome in Welwyn Garden City – which has plans for 650 homes to be built on the site.

Welwyn Hatfield Times: A satellite view of the former Panshanger Aerodrome site. Picture: Google Maps.A satellite view of the former Panshanger Aerodrome site. Picture: Google Maps. (Image: Archant)

Real estate advisors Savills have been appointed to sell the land on behalf of the government’s housing accelerator, potentially paving the way for one of the region’s largest housing developments.

Homes England currently owns 135 acres of land at Panshanger – having bought 93 more acres of land on the eastern side of the site via Savills in March this year.

The sale hopes to drive forward plans for one of the East of England’s largest housing developments with a gross development value of £250m.

READ MORE: Planning approval for 650 homes at former Panshanger aerodrome siteThe land will be sold in phases, with the initial phase benefitting from outline planning permission for 650 residential dwellings, of which 30 per cent will be affordable, a primary school, traveller pitches, a new community centre and associated access or landscaping works.

The second phase comprises adjacent Green Belt land, which has been draft allocated for potentially up to 160 dwellings in Welwyn Hatfield’s emerging Local Plan.

READ MORE: Welwyn Hatfield council to consult on plan to protect borough’s Green BeltAbigail Jones, from the development team at Savills Cambridge, said: “This has been a long term project, with the original sale one of five major land acquisitions by Homes England completed on March 31 against a backdrop of coronavirus and lockdown.

“Being in control of the whole site ensures Homes England can deliver the scheme comprehensively and much more quickly. We are hoping to achieve a conditional exchange on the first parcel of the consented land area by early 2021.

“We are expecting Homes England to act as a master developer to service the site, with the land sold in parcels to various national and SME housebuilders, similar to a number of other Homes England disposals the team have been involved with across the East of England over the past 12 months.”

Panshanger aerodrome was previously used as a decoy for the De Havilland aviation factory in Hatfield during World War II. It was then later used as a civic airfield for light aircraft.

Dan Wheatley, senior development manager at Homes England said: “Panshanger is a great example of how Homes England is focusing its expertise on preparing land for the development of new homes. The site has long been recognised for its potential to deliver homes for Hertfordshire and the wider East of England so we are delighted that we are another step closer to bringing those plans to fruition.”