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The site is located in the Frindsbury area of Rochester just under a mile north of Strood station that offers regular rail services to London St Pancras with a journey time around 35 minutes.

There are a number of good Primary schools in the local area as well as a range of Secondary Grammar and Comprehensive schools, including the new Maritime Academy Secondary and Sixth Form school currently being constructed as part of the site.

Rochester High Street with its range of independent retailers, restaurants, Castle, Cathedral and Museums is around 1.3 miles to the south of the site. More everyday shops including Aldi, Asda, Tesco and Morrisons supermarkets can be found in Strood town centre which is around a mile from the site.

Junction 1 of the M2 motorway is around 4 miles to the east provides quick and easy access to the M25 in the west and the Coastal towns of East Kent including Ferry services at Dover to the east.

The area for Phase 1 of the residential element extends to c. 1.205 ha (c. 2.58 acres) in size. It is irregular in shape and falls in level from north to south. Access to the site is from Frindsbury Hill. This new access will be shared with the new Maritime Academy Secondary and Sixth Form school. The school and access are both currently under construction and it is understood that completion is targeted for the school’s first intake of pupils in September 2024.

The site is generally scrub land and has no previous structures. It is bounded by the rear gardens of residential properties fronting Frindbury Hill and Parsonage Lane to the north and west respectively. To the east is the site of the new school buildings and its playing fields and to the south is land for the further Phases of the residential development. The majority of the further Phases are located on a former quarry that is in the process of being filled and engineered up to the development level with inert waste under a permit from the Environment Agency. It is anticipated it will take several more years for this to be completed and this phase of the site becomes available for any development.

Medway Council granted outline planning permission for up to 181 dwellings as part of a hybrid planning application on the 17th December 2021 under planning reference MC/21/0302. The other elements of the application included a detailed planning permission for the new school along with an outline planning permission for the conversion of Manor Farm Barn into a new wedding venue with over-night accommodation.
Phase 1 comprises the first 59 units. After this quantum of development, the Section 106 requires additional obligations on the vendor in respect to the Barn that they would like to delay implementing for the foreseeable future. Therefore they will require a clause in the sale that strictly limits Phase 1 to a development of only 59 units.

The Hybrid Decision Notice has 102 conditions. Conditions 1 to 4 are general, conditions 5 to 41 deal with Barn, Conditions 42 to 71 deal with the school and conditions 72 to 102 deal with the housing. The planning conditions for the school have been discharged and this element of the decision has been implemented and construction is significantly advanced.

An indicative layout for the residential element accompanied the planning application. This shows a range of potential unit types that included 1 & 2 bed apartments and 2, 3 & 4 bed houses.

Condition 73 of the Decision Notice requires Reserved Matters to be approved within 3 years of the decision date, therefore by the 16th December 2024. A clause in the sale will require the purchaser to use all reasonable endeavours to meet these timescales in order to preserve the planning consent.

The Section 106 was engrossed on the 16th December 2021 and a copy is available to download.

Most of the obligations within the Section 106 are required after the occupation of the 60th unit. These obligations are both financial and relate to the implementation of specific works on Manor Farm Barn. These obligations coupled with the ongoing fill works within the former quarry is the reason Phase 1 will be limited to just 59 units and a clause in the sale will be required that strictly limits Phase 1 to just 59 units.
The First Schedule of the Section 106 outlines a range of Financial Contributions that will be required as part of any Phase 1 development. These are:

1. £116,706.99 towards the creation of additional capacity at primary care facilities. This is payable on the occupation of the 40th unit.
2. £31,937.45 towards the provision of waste and recycling facilities. This is payable prior to the occupation of the first unit.
3. £45,320.59 towards the provision of migrating bird disturbance mitigation measures. This is payable prior to the commencement of the Housing site.

The Second Schedule of the Section 106 stipulates that 25% of the residential units will be of an affordable tenure which equates to c. 45 units in total for the 181 unit scheme. 60% of these will be Affordable Rented Housing and 40% Shared Ownership Housing.
The affordable tenure housing must be transferred to a Registered Provider before the first occupation of 50% of the private housing units. The Section 106 also stipulates that reasonable endeavours must be made to provide the following mix of units: 30% 1 beds, 30% 2 beds, 30% 3 beds and 5% each of 4 & 5 beds.

Therefore, under the terms of the Section 106 none of the first Phase will need to be of an affordable tenure.

However, it is the intention of the vendor for Phase 1 to be required provide some of the affordable units. It is anticipated that the two blocks of apartments proposed within the indicative layout at the north of the site will be wholly of an affordable tenure and will provide the required 13 no. 1 beds and 13 no. 2 beds.

Inclusion of these unit will be a requirement of the Contract of Sale.

The Site Plan, Illustrative Layout, Decision Notice, Section 106 and Design & Access Statement relating to the residential element are all available to download from our website at www.rpclandandnewhomes.co.uk. Further planning information is available at Medway Council’s planning portal by searching MC/21/0302.

The site is to be sold on a freehold basis with vacant possession upon completion. All necessary rights will be retained to connect into any new roads, paths or utilities for the later Phases.

Interested parties are advised to make their own enquiries with the relevant statutory authorities to ensure the availability and sufficient capacity at the site in order to service and drain the proposed development.

Any service infrastructure, utilities or ducting that is installed to supply Phase 1 must be installed at a capacity that is capable of servicing later Phases.

There will be no ability for any purchaser or their inheritors in Title of Phase 1 to retain any land or control any service infrastructure that creates a requirement of a ransom payment in order to develop the later phases at the site.

Phase 1 will be strictly limited to 59 units and a clause in the sale will be required that strictly limits the development to a total of 59 no. units.

It is understood that the site is elected for VAT. Therefore, VAT will be charged at the prevailing rate on the purchase price and must be taken in to consideration in any offer made.

It is not possible to undertake and independent viewing on the site therefore all viewings must be accompanied by the agent. Should you require a detailed walkover of the site, prior arrangement will be required. Please contact Graeme Dowd on 07904 372142 to make the necessary arrangements.

Conditional offers are sought by way of an Informal Tender subject only to discharging the necessary conditions and securing the Reserved Matters.

Only offers in writing will be considered.

All offers must include details of any on site due diligence that will be required prior to an exchange of contracts as well as evidence to demonstrate that funds are available to complete the transaction.

In addition, all offers must confirm that you taken the following into consideration:

• Any proposed scheme will be at a maximum of 59 no. units
• Reasonable endeavours will be made to meet the planning timescales set out in Condition 73 of MC/21/0302
• No land will be retained that creates a future ransom for any purpose that impacts ability to develop of later phases
• Phase 1 will contain at least 13 no. 1 beds and 13 no. 2 beds and these will be of an affordable tenure
• VAT will be applied to purchase price at the prevailing rate.

The closing date for initial offers is 12 noon on Friday 23rd February 2024.

Depending on the outcome of the initial round of bids, the vendor reserves the right to seek a further round of best and final bids if it is deemed appropriate.

As a Regulated Industry under Anti-Money Laundering Regulations, RPC Land & New Homes will need to verify the identify of all purchasers of the site and this will be completed before Heads of Terms are issued to the preferred bidder.

The vendor is not obligated to accept the highest or any bid made.