The chief executive of land regeneration specialist Harworth Group has hailed the firm’s progress against its growth strategy ahead of its AGM.
The Rotherham based business, which also has offices in Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, said it has continued its strong operational momentum into 2022, following on from last year’s hike in revenues from £70m to £109m.
The firm is advancing 635,000 sq ft of direct development, with land sales across 32.2m sq ft of industrial and logistics pipeline. Projects include 32,000 sq ft of Grade A space at Bardon Hill, Leicestershire, where it is in advanced negotiations with a number of potential occupiers ahead of its completion this August 2022.
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Development of a further 303,000 sq ft is also under way or being prepared at the Advanced Manufacturing Park in Barnsley.
Within its residential pipeline it is progressing serviced sales across 30,557 plots, with its single-family Build to Rent (BTR) portfolio set to accelerate this further. Harworth is launching a portfolio of up to 1,200 single-family BTR homes across 10 sites, which will be delivered through a forward- funding agreement - and it has seen significant early interest from potential investment partners.
Meanwhile, its investment portfolio is showing robust operational metrics, supported by strong leasing activity, although the average rent has fallen from £6.32 per sq ft as of December 31 2021, to £6.21 per sq ft, while vacancy rates have also slipped over the same time frame from 4.1% to 3.9%.
Ahead of the AGM, Lynda Shillaw, chief executive of Harworth, said: “We have continued our strong operational momentum into 2022, delivering our growth strategy against an ongoing backdrop of robust demand for our serviced residential plots and industrial & logistics products.
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“We have demonstrated a step change in the scale of our direct development so far this year and recently launched our initial single-family Build to Rent portfolio of up to 1,200 homes: together these will accelerate the delivery of our development sites whilst creating further sustainable places where people want to live and work.
“We have also made great progress in replenishing our strategic land bank, with land acquisitions completed so far this year adding 3.9m sq ft of industrial & logistics space and 793 residential plots to our pipeline. Although these sites are still largely in the land assembly phase, they represent significant opportunities that will ensure we maintain our target 12-15 year land supply as we deliver on our strategic plan.
“Despite macroeconomic headwinds, the fundamental supply and demand factors driving growth in the industrial and logistics and residential markets remain intact.
“These strong underlying market drivers, combined with our proven successful track record as a developer of large complex sites, our robust financial position, and our focus on creating high-quality, sustainable places, give us confidence in our ability to deliver on our medium-term ambition for Harworth to reach £1bn of EPRA NDV.”