YTL Developments has entered a strategic partnership with Bromford Flagship LiveWest (BFL), working together to maximise potential for high quality affordable homes at Brabazon and the wider West Innovation Arc in the West of England.
YTL Developments is rapidly transforming one of the largest brownfield sites in the UK into Brabazon, a 450-acre new town north of Bristol with 6,500 homes.
Brabazon’s designation as one of the Government’s seven shortlisted New Towns will unlock thousands of new homes and jobs, alongside the vital public transport and infrastructure needed to support sustainable growth.
This will include the opening of Bristol Brabazon railway station this autumn, the new m4 Metrobus service, and major employment space capable of supporting up to 30,000 jobs.
The development will also deliver up to 2,000 beds of student accommodation, schools, community facilities and 86 acres of green space, including a 15‑acre public park and a 3‑acre lake. Brabazon will also be home to the YTL Live entertainment complex, which features the 20,000‑capacity Aviva Arena alongside conference and exhibition facilities.
BFL is the UK’s largest provider of new affordable homes, delivering more than 3,000 homes each year. It also has a significant existing presence in South Gloucestershire, where it owns and manages around 10,000 affordable homes, reflecting its long-term commitment to the region. This includes a substantial number of homes in Patchway, as well as homes in Little Stoke and Filton.
The ambitions for the West Innovation Arc set out by WECA and local councils are to deliver more homes with balanced communities around thriving employment and public transport connections. When Bristol Brabazon train station opens later this year, it will strengthen connections between the West Innovation Arc growth zone and the Central Bristol and Bath growth zone.
Linking the West’s emerging new town with the region’s two cities will bring some of the most exciting developments in the country closer together, including tens of thousands of new homes and new jobs.
The collaboration between YTL Developments and BFL combines a shared aim to create mixed, sustainable communities based on quality design and management, strong transport links, and brings combined expertise to ensure viable higher density housing, regeneration opportunities and new housing for existing tenants while also ensuring that existing places and BFL customers benefit from the growth and opportunities created through Brabazon and the wider New Town.
There are also plans to work in partnership to develop the skills needed to deliver at scale, investing long term in local talent and creating future pipeline opportunities for the next generation of the development and construction workforce.
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Seb Loyn, director of planning & development at YTL Developments, said: “Working with the team at BFL is a great example of a partnership‑led response to national housing ambitions. Brabazon is a major new town of genuine scale and ambition.
“BFL already has a strong foothold in the region, and this collaboration will allow us to align new delivery with existing communities to ensure we take a smart approach to meeting the regional housing needs.”
Robert Nettleton, chief executive at BFL, said: “Brabazon demonstrates what’s possible when ambition is matched with the capacity to deliver at scale. Our partnership with YTL reflects the kind of collaboration needed to support delivery of the government’s1.5 million homes target and enable long-term growth.
“As an established housing provider in the region, we bring a local understanding and can align new homes with existing places and customers, ensuring growth is coordinated, sustainable and creates the conditions that enable people to thrive.”
Helen Godwin, Mayor of the West of England, said: “Brabazon and the West Innovation Arc is such an exciting opportunity for our region. This new partnership between BFL and YTL Developments is an important step towards creating new jobs and building more new homes as part of the West of England’s emerging new town, including more affordable homes.
“Our combined authority is proud to be delivering not one but two new train stations for this area, with the Metrobus now serving Brabazon too, and record government funding to build better transport across the West of England. We know that people want the right homes built in the right places, with the right services and connections, and that’s what we’re determined to help deliver – working with our local councils and developers like YTL and BFL.”
Image: Brabazon
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