Council sells off its old housing offices - to build even more housing at Central Milton Keynes

Saxon Court, built in the 1980 at the junction of Saxon Gate and Avebury Boulevard, was declared surplus to MK Council's requirements a couple of years ago.

It has this month been bought by real estate investors First Base and Patron Capital, who plan to repurpose the building and the adjacent chunk of land to create a "mix of workspace, homes and community spaces."

Already CMK is fast becoming a housing mecca, with plans in the pipeline for more than 2,600 new homes in and around the shopping centre and 1,850 more on neighbouring parkland

Many will be apartments and some of them will be for rent only. But a large chunk of them will be aimed at the executive market and people looking for luxury living in the heart of Milton Keynes.

Several different developers are involved and the sites include the old Food Centre (904 flats), Station House (200 flats), land behind The Hub on Avebury Boulevard (300 flats and 18 storeys high), the old Jobcentre on Silbury Boulevard (140 flats) and the former Wyvale garden centre (328 flats).

MK Council say local people and businesses will be able to have their say about the latest Saxon Court plans in consultations which will start in the coming weeks.

A council spokesman said: "First Base and Patron Capital have exchanged on the purchase of MK Council’s former offices at Saxon Court. While subject to planning approval, the sale forms part of the MK Council’s £2bn Covid-19 recovery plan to transform the site into a tech and innovation hub with high quality new homes."

First base director Barry Jessup said: “This is an exciting opportunity to create a new mixed-use district in the heart of one of the UK’s fastest growing cities. Our investment will bring nearly £200m into the Milton Keynes economy and we very much look forward to working with the Council and the local community to develop our plans.”

Council Leader Pete Marland said the initial proposals for Saxon Court were "exciting" and complement the council's plans for Central Milton Keynes.

"These include the world-class university MK:U, pioneering work and leisure spaces, and new affordable homes – and work to help MK recover economically from Covid-19," he said. “We look forward to reviewing the proposals that First Base put forward and listening to local people’s views.”

First Base is a privately-owned mixed-use developer specialising in placemaking and urban regeneration. Its current development pipeline includes the regeneration of the Soapworks site in Bristol into a mixed use district with workspace and over 160 new homes and Edward Street Quarter, which comprises 170,000 sq ft of creative workspace and 168 homes in the heart of Brighton.