Golf club’s course will be worth at least £500 million

The contract to redevelop a Berkshire golf course into housing and a school is set to be worth more than £500 million.

According to the Maidenhead Advertiser, last year Maidenhead Golf Club agreed to surrender its lease for a minimum of £12 million, with an extra £4.25 million if the club leaves within three years.

The £500 million figure has been disclosed in a tenure document in a supplement to the Official Journal of the EU as part of the tendering process. The development is set to see 2,000 homes, a school and a community centre built on the 132-acre site.

Construction is dependent on when the golf club members decide to leave, which could be any time between 2019 and 2023.

Local council leader Simon Dudley said: “What they receive reduces over that period so they have an economic incentive to release it sooner.

“If they want to buy a new golf club we will pre-advance them some money to allow them to buy a new golf club.”

The final contract could be worth more than £1 billion, he added.

He said: “When people think about the development of the golf club, some people might think it’s going to be covered in houses. The answer is no, only 60 per cent of the golf club is subject to development.

“Maidenhead Golf Club is a site in the emerging Borough Local Plan (BLP) and we have consultants at Savills doing work on what is involved in bringing this forward for development.

“Even if there was no BLP, this site would still be brought forward for development.

“We will ask for an expression of interest establishing schools on the site, you may get local schools or a multi-academy trust coming forward.”

At least 600 of the homes on site will be affordable, and a mix of shared ownership, key worker housing, rent to buy and ‘potentially social housing’, he added.

Update: We initially wrongly reported that Maidenhead is in Kent – that is of course Maidstone