Housebuilder completes King’s School campus purchase

Housebuilder Hillcrest Homes has completed its acquisition of the former Cumberland Street campus of the King’s School in Macclesfield.

The King’s School campus in Macclesfield was sold to housing developers to allow the school to move to a new, £60 million purpose-built campus in Prestbury, at the beginning of the autumn term in 2020.

Hillcrest agreed to purchase the six-acre Cumberland Street site in 2018, however planning permission for 115 homes on the site has yet to be approved; Cheshire East Council deferred its decision on the scheme for a second time in December 2020. The council’s planning committee raised concerns about the development, particularly concerning a war memorial on site, and levels of affordable housing provision.

Hillcrest managing director James Payne commented on the Place North West website:

We’ve invested considerable time and care to align our vision for the development with the council’s aspirations for the future of Macclesfield and have met with, and actively listened to, the wishes of the local community, heritage groups and other stakeholders.” 

In addition to Hillcrest Homes’ development of the Cumberland Street site, Barratt and David Wilson Homes North West were chosen to by Homes England to build 300 homes on the Fence Avenue campus, and McCarthy & Stone have secured planning permission for an 89-unit retirement community.

The King’s School moved into its new campus near Prestbury in September 2020, and headmaster Jason Slack will be sharing how the business and his teaching staff have adapted to the challenges of the pandemic in a meeting of Marketing WAM members of February 24th.

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