Coventry regen scheme faces almost decade of delays

A £420m regeneration scheme backed by Coventry City Council is set to complete up to nine years later than initially planned.

The council is amending the terms of its contract with Shearer Property Regen, which it appointed as its development partner for the Coventry City South (CCS) project in 2019.

The changes will extend the time Shearer has to demolish existing buildings from one year to two, and increase the time the developer has to complete building work from four to 10 years.

In 2020 Shearer submitted a hybrid planning application for the scheme, which was approved in January 2022. Last year Hill Residential was also brought on board as a development partner. 

But since planning consent was granted, the developer has been looking at changes to the scheme’s design, including more than doubling the amount of homes to 1,350, reducing the size of the commercial floorspace from 37,500 square metres to a maximum of 20,000 square metres, and changing the height and massing of proposed buildings.

The council said the changes were needed following COVID-19’s impact on retail habits, changes in the residential market and the increased costs expected due to inflation of construction prices and increased interest rates.

On 24 February, the council and developers will formally modify the development agreement signed in 2019, unless the council faces any legal challenges or objections. 

The notice states that the extension to the contract term is being made to “allow additional time for completion of the development to reflect the phasing and sequencing arrangements”. The council is also stumping up an additional £32.7m in funding for the project “to address the cumulative effects stated to an already unviable scheme” – but is taking a larger ownership share as a consequence.

In a statement within the contract notice, the council states: “The council considers that CCS will be more than just a retail scheme. The vision for CCS is instead for it to be a vibrant and successful mixed-use environment.

“The scheme will respect and, where necessary, reinstate the historic street pattern of Coventry. It will not just be a place to shop, visit for leisure or live in but will instead be an environment where a range of activities come together and respond to increased demand for flexible lifestyles.”

The scheme’s changes, which also reflect the changing nature of the UK’s retail outlook, remove the requirement to have an “anchor store” and car park within part of the scheme. Citing the collapse of Debenhams, and the administration of House of Fraser and other major retail brands, the notice states that the pandemic “accelerated the levels of contraction in the retail offer of UK cities which reflects the wider structural changes in the retail sector and industry”.

The revisions will see the number of homes, on top of student accommodation, rise from 550 to between 1,350 and 1,500 units. Of these, 20 per cent will be classed as affordable housing. 

The notice states that “the existing and additional public sector funding will be utilised solely towards the delivery of specific Pre-Construction Qualifying Works and Qualifying Construction Works including the provision of affordable housing and public realm within the scheme.”

In 2015, Coventry City Council began the process of choosing a development partner to help deliver the new scheme. 

Alongside the city’s Friargate scheme, CCS is considered one of the key regeneration schemes planned to rejuvenate Coventry’s city centre. 

Andy Fancy, managing director for special projects at The Hill Group said: “Shearer Property Regen Limited, a joint venture between The Hill Group and Shearer Property Group, has been working alongside Coventry City Council to deliver the first phase of City Centre South with a view to starting on site later this year.

“The project remains on track, and we are now in the process of developing a detailed planning application to be submitted this spring. Before we submit the application, we will share more information with the public about the design of our plans, the layout and public spaces.”