Eutopia Homes submits plans for second Exeter development

If the plans are approved, Eutopia Homes will deliver 51 apartments designed and built exclusively for rent on a vacant site adjacent to the Morrisons supermarket on Prince Charles Road.

The development is intended to act as a “gateway” to Eutopia Homes’ first Exeter project, Exmouth Junction, which was approved by Exeter City Council in March this year.

Exmouth Junction will see a £130m ‘urban village’ created on 15 acres of long-dormant brownfield land. A mix of affordable, private rented and for-sale housing is to be provided alongside extra-care units, representing 465 new homes in total.

Future residents of Exmouth Junction will benefit from new outdoor spaces such as public gardens, squares, footpaths, a woodland walk and fitness trail. In total, green spaces make up 65 percent of the 15-acre site, which is just over a ten-minute walk from Exeter city centre and ½ mile from Exeter University.

The scheme was designed to set new benchmarks for sustainable development by prioritising cycle and pedestrian mobility above car use. Only 0.4 car parking spaces will be provided per unit at Exmouth Junction, with an on-site car club that will be operated through an app-based system. There will also be a new cycle path and over 1,000 bike spaces provided on-site as well as electric car and bike hire schemes to encourage more sustainable methods of travel.

Eutopia Homes was launched in 2017 by Scott Hammond and has since secured a £365m development pipeline with the backing of Chenavari Investment Managers.

In addition to its two developments in Exeter, Eutopia Homes also has a £105m scheme in Salford, Greater Manchester that will deliver 500 homes close to MediaCityUK.

Darling Associates, which opened an office in Manchester last year, is the architect on all the three projects.

Scott Hammond, founder and CEO at Eutopia Homes, said: “If approved, our plans will see a vacant site transformed into much needed high-quality rental housing that will act as a gateway to the urban village we are creating at our Exmouth Junction site.

“While Covid-19 has inevitably caused some disruption, the housing market has demonstrated remarkable resilience during this pandemic and we remain confident in the long-term outlook for UK residential.

“Delivering more homes of all types and tenures will be crucial to ensuring cities like Exeter remain competitive and that talent isn’t priced out.”