8/20/2021 | Care

Lawrence Land Ltd acquires care home development site in Crawley

Specialist business property adviser, Christie & Co, has announced the sale of a development site with planning consent for a 60-bedroom care home, situated in the desirable neighbourhood of Ifield in Crawley, West Sussex, to Lawrence Land Ltd.


Image: Linestyle Architecture

Previous owner of the site, Country Court, achieved full planning permission for the 60-bedroom scheme on the site of the former Gables care home in July 2020. The consented home has been designed to be ‘future fit’ and has a central hub of resident amenities including a café, hair salon, cinema, spa and pub in addition to 100 per cent en suite bedrooms. The home will benefit from three storeys and an approximate consented GIA of 3,031 sqm, equating to 50.5 sqm per resident.

The site has been acquired by Lawrence Land Ltd, a care home developer and subsidiary of specialist care home contractor, Lawrence Baker Ltd. To date, its core mandate has revolved around the acquisition and development of sites for the Berkley Care Group. Lawrence Land intends to expand its services to the wider care home sector, locating and acquiring sites not just in the South East and Home Counties, but also in the Midlands and the North.

Speaking on behalf of Country Court, Co-CEO, Al-Karim Kachra, comments, “We purchased the site due to the excellent demographics, and we’re confident the incoming operator will be successful when bringing the scheme forward.”

Peter Holcroft, Land and Acquisitions Director at Lawrence Land, comments, “The site was attractive to us for several reasons including its excellent micro-location within Crawley and the fact that it had already gained detailed planning approval. We’re in the process of expanding our care home portfolio and to have a site in such a strong area ready to go was a huge benefit. We therefore intend to commence work early next year with PC anticipated for late 2023.”

Sara Hartill, Senior Surveyor at Christie & Co, who handled the sale, comments, “In terms of the macro-economics, Crawley demonstrates healthy demand statistics with strong wealth indicators and competitive fee rate analysis. Country Court has successfully achieved planning permission for an excellent future-proofed care home development that will serve the growing elderly population of Ifield and the wider area. We look forward to visiting the completed scheme in due course and working closely with Lawrence Land throughout the ongoing expansion of its care home portfolio.”

The site was sold to Lawrence Land Ltd at an undisclosed price.

 
For further information on this press release, contact:
Phoebe Burrows, Corporate Communications Executive
P: 020 7448 8849 or E: phoebe.burrows@christie.com

Contact the agent:
Jordan Rundle, Director
P: 07711 767 180 or E: jordan.rundle@christie.com

Contact the agent:
Sara Hartill, Senior Surveyor
P: 07783 811 138 or E: sara.hartill@christie.com