Suffolk County Council has agreed to join forces with Lovell Partnerships to form a property development alliance to build nearly 3,000 much-needed homes.

The 50:50 partnership is intended to deliver around £700m of gross development value over the course of the proposed 15-year agreement, with the option to extend to a further five.

The joint venture will deliver new housing-led developments to be built on council land, with Lovell Partnerships identified as the preferred bidder following a nine-month procurement process. Contracts are expected to be concluded in spring 2022, with the joint venture established in the summer.

Five initial locations have already been identified in Lowestoft, Mildenhall, Bramford, West Row and Newmarket, with capacity for a total of around 2,800 homes plus new schools, employment land and open spaces.

The proposals include an option for further sites to be delivered by the joint venture in future should additional suitable council-owned land become surplus to requirements. Homes will be developed to be low carbon in line with the emerging Future Homes Standard.

Lovell Partnerships, part of the Morgan Sindall Group, is participating in a number of joint ventures with councils across the UK to support similar housing delivery aspirations. The partnership will benefit from working with other companies within the Morgan Sindall Group, as well as local suppliers, to enable it to deliver the works at pace.

Suffolk County Council has been advised throughout the procurement process by Concertus Design and Property Consultants, Avison Young property consultants, and legal advisors Pinsent Masons.

Richard Smith, Suffolk County Council cabinet member for economic development, said: “The council is very pleased to be working in partnership with Lovell to deliver high quality and sustainable homes. This will help meet the needs of the people of Suffolk, provide much needed social housing and new community facilities and provide value for tax-payers. The partnership will also generate significant funds for the council over the long-term for strategic expenditure and investment.”

Steve Coleby, Lovell managing director, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have been chosen by Suffolk County Council to be its joint venture partner. Partnership working is at the heart of what we do and we share our partner’s ambitions for high quality new homes, climate resilience and maximising opportunities for local communities in the places we will be creating together.”

Simon Medler, regional managing director for Lovell in East Anglia added: “Opportunities of this scale, that can bring so much local opportunity and benefit, are rare and our East Anglia regional team is proud we have been selected. We have been based in the region for almost 20 years and have successfully delivered thousands of new homes. We have many staff that live locally and we partner with established local supply chains – all of whom are committed to making this partnership with Suffolk County Council a real success.”