Developers unveil bold plans for huge Exeter riverside site

'There is no desire for us to be sitting on this - we want to get on with it'

A new housing development in the centre of Exeter will transform one of the brownest brownfield sites in Devon.

‘Brownfield’ is the name given to land which has already been built on, and the land at Water Lane, overlooking the canal which runs through the centre of the city, includes an area that was once a gasworks and coal store, and more recently a plant for rendering meat from animal carcasses.

The new development of up to 1,000 homes will go up once the site has been completely cleared and decontaminated. It will include a new bridge across the canal and the removal of the rotting hulk of the former Brixham trawler Marie Claire, which has lain alongside the canal bank for more than a decade.

The total cost will be more than £400 million, and developers face a bill of £30 million just to make the site ready to be built on.

The land has been is earmarked for housing development in the Exeter local plan for 20 years.

City councillors are expected to be asked to give their support to an outline planning application in the next few weeks. If they do, more detailed applications will follow.

The first part of the project will see the site bulldozed and prepared for building, with detailed plans submitted by the end of the year and the first spades in the ground early in 2026. By late 2027 the first residents could be collecting keys to their new homes.

The development will include a mix of buildings including homes to be sold on the open market, affordable homes for ‘buy to rent’ operators, extra-care homes and student accommodation, which is likely to be the first section to be completed.

Work will start on several parts of the sprawling site at once, and among the funders will be Homes England, the government’s housing and regeneration agency.

“There will be a mix of every kind of housing,” said project director Richard Clarke (above) of the Water Lane Development Company. “It’s a sensible way to approach things.”

Affordable homes will be part of the mix, but developers are unlikely to be able to meet the council’s target of making 35 homes in every hundred ‘affordable’. Having such a large proportion would make the project unviable, they say.

“We do want to get affordable housing on the site,” said Mr Clarke. “People think every developer hates affordable housing, but it is actually quite good because of the way it is funded.

“We want a mixed community - homes for market sale, extra-care homes, student accommodation and homes for buy-to-rent. That provider may also provide affordable housing.

“There will definitely be affordable housing on site but we have yet to negotiate what that is with the council.”

The market-price homes will include studios up to two and three bedroom apartments.

Exeter City Council had originally wanted the development to have no vehicles at all, but Mr Clarke said that would rule out too many potential occupants.

The company already has the keys to most of the site, meaning it is ready to start work as soon as permission is given.

Situated right next to the canal, the development will be built with potential flooding in mind as the climate is expected to warm and weather patterns change. It will be built to withstand a ‘once in a thousand years’ weather event.

The history of developments at Water Lane goes back to the early nineteenth century, with gas companies and two foundries on the site. The last gas holders were demolished in 2015.

“The meat rendering plant was exceptionally unpopular, but the area itself is very attractive,” said Mr Clarke.

In 2019, when Exeter was designated a ‘garden city’, eight regeneration sites were identified, but Water Lane is the only one where any real progress is being made.

“It’s a challenging site because of all the contamination,” said Mr Clarke. “There is going to be quite a chunky bill for decontamination.

The overall scheme has been five years in the making so far, with the first outline planning application submitted to the city council in August 2023. There have been two public consultation cycles, with a clear majority of local people in favour of the development in principle.

“Our aspirations for the site basically outstrip the council’s,” said Mr Clarke.

Now the developers are keen to get to work.

“There is no desire for us to be sitting on this,” added Mr Clarke. “We want to get on with it.”