Tesco sells off former Advanta seeds site for housing scheme

An overhead layout of the brownfield site formerly occupied by Advanta Seeds. (Photo supplied)

The former Advanta Seeds site in Sleaford which was once designated to become a new Tesco superstore has been sold on to a housing developer.

Countryside Partnerships, a leading provider of multi-tenure, affordable homes, has exchanged contracts with Tesco Stores Ltd on the 12.8-acre brownfield site in Sleaford, sandwiched between Southgate, Boston Road and the railway line, with a view to building 122 new affordable homes, five “First Homes” and a 66-bed care home.

They will also be proposing to provide a new county standard bowls green and club house to replace the ageing facilities currently on site at the Bristol Bowls Bowls Club off Boston Road.

In a statement the developer says the project will transform the former industrial site, previously used for seed processing, into “much-needed housing with a mix of two-, three- and four-bedroom family homes for the area”. The First Homes are market-sale properties discounted by at least 30 per cent and available to first-time buyers meeting certain eligibility criteria.

The overgrown entrance to the former Advanta site. (File photo)

The land is allocated for mixed-use and residential development in the Lincolnshire Local Plan, adopted in April 2023. Countryside now expects to submit a Reserved Matters planning application in the first half of 2024 with a view to starting work later in the year.

The supermarket chain first applied to build a new store on the former factory site in 2008, gaining permission in 2011. But those plans fell through in 2015 and it was granted permission for an alternative scheme for a new retail park, retirement home and bowls club in Sleaford in 2019.

Lee Parry, Managing Director for Countryside Partnerships North East Midlands, said: “Redeveloping brownfield sites such as this one in Sleaford is hugely important in helping to tackle the crippling shortage of affordable homes across the UK. Our planning team cannot wait to get into the finer planning details with a view to transforming this former industrial site into an attractive and welcoming place to live for the local community.”

Tesco has been approached for comment.