THE contract has been signed for a big housing development in Hook.

It will create more than 100 flats to replace what is currently office space at Bartley Wood Business Park. The £27m contract has gone to Decorean, a London-based construction company.

Decorean plans to create 107 small flats at Bartlett’s Park. They are expected to go on the market for up to £250,000 each, aimed at first-time buyers.

The new block will have three storeys – the same as the existing building. The developers have applied to add balconies to the exterior of the new apartments.

The deal will come as a relief to those who feared rural land might be used to build new housing.

Redeveloping the business park constitutes brownfield development, which is preferred by most local interest groups.

Decorean is a fast–growing construction company. It was established in 2010 and has more than 70 live sites across the country, with a further 40 in the pipeline.

To manage the Hook project, the company has hired George Akpan. He was site manager on a recent development in Fleet, where Berkely Homes built 350 new properties.

The Bartley Wood Business Park is currently home to Virgin Media and BMW among others. The new building work there is expected to take 18 months.

A Decorean spokesman said: “The development, which represents one of the UK’s largest office to residential developments in a business park to date, will see the 84,000 square feet business park, change from existing commercial usage into 107 modern one and two bedroom apartments, set over three floors.

“The flats will have oversized windows, high ceilings and will be built to a high standard. The construction should be completed in winter 2017. To date, a quarter of the units have been exchanged.”

Shraga Stern, managing director of Decorean, said: “The apartments will be built to the company’s usual high and exacting standard, exemplifying our dedication to perfection. 

“The location of this site is particularly exciting for us with London being less than an hour away by train, making it a desirable commuter location.”

But it does not end there. In the next few weeks, it’s thought a further application will be submitted for two separate, new buildings on the Bartley Wood site.

Earlier this month a consultation for local residents by Pineview Property Group outlined plans for the new buildings to the north and south of the site. This proposal would lead to another 100 flats – in addition to the 107 already signed off.

The land is currently viewed as surplus parking space, suitable for more buildings.

The brownfield plan fits in with Hart district’s local housing plan. It raises hopes the council will meet its target for new housing without encroaching further on the local countryside.

The expectation is that a restructured timetable for the Hart local plan will be released in September or October. This will follow publication of the results of the recent consultation over the next few weeks.

An earlier consultation was controversially scrapped shortly before it was due to be unveiled. Hart District Council faced criticism in the months that followed, as their struggles to get a plan published led to delays at parish council level.

The issue was highlighted at last week’s Hartley Wintney annual meeting, where the neighbourhood planning team struggled to field questions in the absence of clear guidance from Hart.

It is thought that the next few months will see a reduction of 1,000-1,500 in the number of new homes Hart is required to build in the Strategic Housing Market Assessment and the Employment Land Review. The go ahead for brownfield building at Pyestock and Hartland’s Park will also ease the pressure.

There is also pressure coming from Secretary of State MP Michael Fallon, who last month joined MP Ranil Jayawardena in championing the Pyestock development. Both politicians called for brownfield sites to be redeveloped as a priority, rather than sacrificing more of the local countryside to the legitmate need for new homes.