Former Homes England CEO Peter Denton CBE has been appointed as a special adviser to Oval, as part of its drive to become one of the nation’s leading large brownfield developers, Property Week can reveal.
Special adviser: Peter Denton CBE
Denton, who stepped down from the role of Homes England chief executive last year, has been brought in to wield his more than 30 years of experience in affordable housing, regeneration, place-making and investment, including senior leadership roles in the public, private and third sectors.
Since its inception in 2013, Oval has built a £1.2bn portfolio of assets under management, with flagship schemes in Digbeth, Birmingham and Albert Bridge House, Manchester.
James Craig, who co-founded Oval with Nick Prior and is executive chairman told Property Week: “There is an enormous need right now for well-funded developers – a lot of developers don’t have the capital – to work with planning authorities and with agencies like Homes England to deliver housing and change across our regional cities.
“These places haven’t been properly invested in for a long time. Our view is that that doesn’t happen in isolation; the private sector cannot do it on its own and neither can the public sector.”
Denton told Property Week: “There’s a massive imbalance between the opportunity of placemaking in our cities and the regeneration of areas that need it.
“There is certainly much more opportunity than I think the current market has capacity to deal with. Every city in this country will have places that have the opportunity to not just deliver the homes we need in that city, but all the commercial, educational and leisure needs.”
Oval’s Digbeth Estate development. Credit: Tom Bird
Denton said Oval’s Digbeth development could be a blueprint for the business to scale its regeneration across the UK.
“Oval is set to submit its first detailed planning applications later this year, which will ultimately see the delivery of over 4,000 homes with an ambition for 40% of them being affordable,” he said.
“Coupled with the opportunities in the creative industries, leisure and education already curated by Oval, the imminent arrival of the BBC, the metro extension and ultimately HS2, this regeneration is an exciting example of how aspirations can deliver real benefits for communities while helping devolved authorities meet their strategic objectives.”
With housing starts slowing as construction costs continue to rise, and war in Iran putting upwards pressure on interest rates and inflation, Oval’s leadership is calling for a modernisation of public-private housing partnerships.
“With everything going on right now, creativity in financial structures will be important in unlocking housing,” Prior said.
“We talk about viability funding as filling a gap with grant funding that the government makes no money from. What we really need is to bring them into the equity that is performing, so they can make some return on it that helps repay the grant they have paid out. That means the more that the government or a local authority funds, the less developers need to find third-party capital, which is incredibly hungry for massive returns.”
Denton added: “Viability is unquestionably a national agenda issue. But it isn’t just the government that should plug the gap. That can’t be the answer, because it’s not realistic.”
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