Merry Hill owners reveal new homes plans
A brand new housing estate could be built around the Merry Hill shopping centre under proposals floated by the site's owner, intu, that could see up to 5,000 homes built nationwide.
The Trafford Park and Lakeside shopping centre group is looking into building homes for rent and hotels around half a dozen of its major out-of-town shopping centres, thought to include Merry Hill.
It comes after it has seen nearly £1 billion wiped off the value of its 20 shopping centres in the UK and Spain since last summer in the wake of the retail crisis on the high street, which has seen Toys R Us, Maplin and House of Fraser collapse this year, with a string of other retailers announcing store closures.
Using available land for lucrative housing would provide a much-needed source of new income.
Outlining its plans, the company said: "intu has extensive, available land. Our six major out of town centres comprise some 760 acres of land of which less than 40 per cent has buildings, multi-storey car parks or distribution roads upon it, leaving 470 acres of surface car parks and other potentially developable land.
"The city centre locations also offer opportunities for intensification of uses.
"Mixed use opportunities being evaluated include residential, hotels and other uses. Initial work has highlighted the potential for around 5,000 residential units and nearly 600 hotel rooms, with further opportunities under consideration."
So far it has identified opportunities at its sites to create around 1,700 homes for rent which could be developed for around £240 million.
As well as homes for rent, intu is looking at the use of land around its shopping centres for hotels.
Just last year a 74 bedroom hotel, let to Travelodge, was completed at intu Lakeside. "Room occupancy has been so strong that we are now looking to add further bedrooms," it said.
Intu is also looking at using sites for offices, 'flexible working spaces', 'business lounges' and other services that could generate rental income.
The company added: "All these opportunities, which are under active consideration, would create value directly but moreover would increase the overall attractiveness and catchment of the centres."
It comes as intu is under the added pressure of a takeover bid from a property company owned by its own deputy chairman. Billionaire John Whittaker's Peel Group is leading a consortium offering £2.9 billion for the company.
Meanwhile Chancellor Philip Hammond is thought to be weighing up possible changes to the planning system that would make it quicker to convert empty shops into homes. It could be seen solving both the problem of emptying high streets and the lack of affordable housing on the market.
