Australian company plans 3,000 homes around golf courses in London and the South

An Australian company has set out its plans to build more than 3,000 homes on land around its golf courses in London, the South East and the South West.

Crown Golf, which is owned by the Australian Bangarra Group and owns eight golf courses covering 580ha, has appointed fund manager Fairway Capital as investment advisor and manager to its real estate portfolio.

The pair are drawing up residential plans with the aim of creating a real estate holding worth in excess of £1bn GDV.

The proposed new homes, which they plan to deliver in a “carefully phased programme anticipated to take up to six years”, would include 1,000 affordable units, alongside retained golf facilities.

Jeff Chapman, founder of Bangarra Group, said: “Earlier this year, the chancellor underscored in her Budget speech the critical importance of strong and consistent economic growth for a post-Brexit UK. 

“In today’s volatile trade environment, property remains a steadfast asset – unshackled by tariffs or transient policies. It is the foundation upon which the UK can reassert itself as one of the world’s great nations.”

Fairway Capital’s chief executive, George Brooksbank, added that previous efforts to repurpose the organisation’s land holdings for housing had been “hindered by restrictive planning policies and a reluctance to develop greenfield or rural land”. 

“The new Labour government, with housing policy led by Angela Rayner, brings a fresh approach to housing delivery – embracing development on underutilised greybelt land and showing new openness to appropriate greenfield sites,” he continued.

Brooksbank said there was now “real momentum” on the plans and that the initiative was a “vital early test case for Labour’s housing agenda”.

On its flagship St Mellion Estate in Cornwall, over 200 new homes are being considered.