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By Sarah Longthorpe, Director of Regeneration at Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council

Being relatively new to Basingstoke I am still uncovering what this hidden gem has to offer myself! I don’t want to spill out the usual regeneration mantra about place, people and connectivity – in this piece, which aims to highlight the development and investment opportunities in Basingstoke and why you need to be here, it’s not a mantra, it’s the reality.

Why should developers and investors invest in Basingstoke?

Basingstoke and Deane is an ambitious Hampshire borough designed around the happiness and success of its community. Located 45 minutes from London and within easy reach of the south coast ports, it is the largest town in Hampshire and home to an established business ecosystem with big brands including Sony, Vitacress, Fujitsu, Eli Lilly and Company, The AA, Aecom and Lavazza. It is a productive place where people enjoy high levels of life satisfaction, ranking in the UK’s top six per cent for Gross Value Added (GVA) per hour worked and in the top five percent for happiness.

What does Basingstoke have that other areas don’t?

Basingstoke, nestled in the picturesque county of Hampshire, boasts excellent connectivity while offering some of the most affordable property options along the M3 corridor.

It is a place that inspires greater wellbeing – 75% of the land in the borough is agricultural or woodland, of which 33% is designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The birthplace of Jane Austen, these are the views that once inspired the acclaimed novelist.

Its unique advantage also lies in the fact that the local council (Basingstoke and Deane), a major landowner, has a proactive approach to attracting businesses and there is an underlying direction of travel towards mixed-use, sustainable Grade A quality buildings.

A recent example is the £30 million investment from Longstock Capital in refurbishing Mountbatten House (now ‘Plant’) on the council-owned business park, Basing View. The Grade A building will be BREEAM certified and boast more than 26,000 plants and 80 mature trees.

LevertonHELM, one of the largest global manufacturers of lithium carbonate used in car batteries, also signed a 20-year lease on council-owned Viables Business Park, demonstrating their commitment to Basingstoke. Furthermore, the council was a key enabler in the Network Rail Training Campus and Sovereign Network Group headquarters on Basing View.

Another product of local authority and private sector collaboration, Basing View will soon boast a private 5G network and a new state-of-the-art 5G Living Lab that will allow businesses to build, test and demonstrate innovative new commercial 5G products and services.

Most importantly people seem to simply be happier in Basingstoke and Deane. The latest council survey results show that the resident satisfaction rate is at 93%, a figure that is well above the south east’s 74% average and the national 80% average. The area also rates in the top five per cent for happiness amongst local authorities in the UK.

Life satisfaction in Basingstoke is rated 7.6 out of 10 and feeling life is worthwhile 7.9 out of 10 — figures that are higher than the national average.

What are the big projects in the pipeline?

The Manydown Garden Community, one of the largest residential led development opportunities in the south, which extends to 848 hectares, certainly is a big one for the area. The project has secured outline planning permission for 3,520 new homes and procured a joint venture partner Urban&Civic, owned by The Wellcome Trust, to commence delivery of the infrastructure and create an amazing new garden community.  We will be looking for house builders to join us in creating these new communities.

The next chapter of Manydown is the promotion and masterplanning of Manydown South and together with the adjoining landowner, The Society of Merchant Venturers, the two sites provide an exciting opportunity for an 8,600-home garden community, beautiful green infrastructure connected to the Hampshire countryside, new employment space and is one of the preferred sites for delivering Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s new regional hospital. 

Public consultation has now started on proposals for the £700 to £900 million investment in the new hospital.

There is great momentum behind the programme of regeneration with town centre and leisure park masterplans. The council is planning significant investment in new facilities on the leisure park, and there is strong interest from the leisure industry – including from Great Wolf Resorts who are proposing to invest in excess of £275 million in a new indoor water park resort, conference centre and 500-room hotel.

In more regen-news, VIVID secured planning permission for 203 sustainable homes and new community and health facilities to regenerate the Winklebury area, and Cala Thames Ltd and Southorpe Developments Ltd have been given the go-ahead to build 104 dwellings in Worting Park on the border of Manydown.

Sovereign Network Group (SNG) has also joined forces with the Hill Group to form the Sovereign Hill Partnership, and their collaborative effort will begin with the regeneration of the Buckskin and South Ham estates, which consist of 4,700 homes.

Basing View continues to attract private sector investment interest, including from Packaged Living who have submitted a planning application for an exciting mixed-use built-to-rent development.

A ‘fibrespine’ project is also under way to support gigabit-capable broadband for businesses and communities across Surrey and Hampshire with 94km of new infrastructure from Basingstoke to Guildford.

Rather exciting is also that we are exploring opportunities to set up a satellite campus in Basingstoke.

What is the local workforce like?

The economic activity rate for the borough is 84.7% which shows the borough as highly productive. This is comparable to the south east economic activity at 80.7%.

30.5% of residents in Basingstoke and Deane have above level 4 qualifications in comparison to 29.9% of people in the south east of England.

Employment in the borough is 80.7% in comparison to 78.1% in the south east and 75.6% in Great Britain. Unemployment is 2.7% which is lower than the national average of 3.6% and the south east average of 3.1%. 

The 0 to 15 population is also higher than many comparable local authority areas, and this age group represents the future workforce and talent.

There are are several universities in the area, accessible from Basingstoke, including the University of Reading, University of Creative Arts Farnham, University of Portsmouth, Solent University, University of Southampton, University of Surrey and the University of Winchester.

I think our ‘Invest in happiness’ slogan has rubbed off on me as I can honestly say I have not been happier since I made the move to work at Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council!

We will be at UKREiiF again this year and are keen to meet and collaborate with strategic partners to deliver regeneration in our borough. Please do visit our friendly team at stand C54 in the New Dock Hall. The time to invest in this hidden gem is now. Visit www.lovebasingstoke.co.uk/invest for more info, contact [email protected] or connect with Invest in Basingstoke on LinkedIn. #InvestInHappiness