Sanrock Road & Cleveland, Royal Tunbridge Wells

Well located site with residential development potential in the popular Royal Tunbridge Wells. This site offers potential for either a pair of semi-detached properties or a single dwelling, subject to all necessary consents being granted. An unconditional cash offer in the region of £300,000 is preferred but conditional (subject to planning permission) offers in the excess of £350,000 may be considered. For sale by way of informal tender with a closing date of Friday 12th July 2024.

Location - The site is on the fringe of the popular St James area located towards the north west of Royal Tunbridge Wells. It is close to the St James’ Church of England Primary School which has a ‘Good’ Ofsted rating. In addition, the town offers a number of well-renowned Comprehensive and Grammar schools for 11 - 18 year olds.

The town centre is around one mile to the west and provides a wide range of shopping, restaurants, entertainment and leisure activities. Close to the site across the A264 Pembury Road is Dunorlan Park, which was laid out in the Victorian era and boasts a boating lake, café, picturesque walks and landscape views.

Tunbridge Wells railway station is around a mile from the site and offers regular services to London with a journey time of around an hour. The A21 is c. 1.5 miles north of the site which links to Junction 5 of the M25 c. 15 miles to the north as well as the coastal town of Hastings to the south.

Site Description - The site extends to c. 0.09 hectares (c. 0.22 acres) in size and is level and generally regular in shape although part extends behind the rear gardens of property fronting Cleveland. The site is on the corner of Sandrock Road and Cleveland. There is a historic crossover from Sandrock Road to the site, but this has since been kerbed and access onto the site at this location has grown over. Any future vehicular access is therefore likely to be from Cleveland.

The vegetation on the site has recently been cleared. There are several mature trees along the rear and southern boundaries, including a mature Scots Pine. Some of these trees appear to have died and have no recent leaf growth. To the north are existing residential properties fronting Cleveland. To the east is the public highway Cleveland to the south is Sandrock Road and to the west is the front garden & drive of a property fronting Sandrock Road.

Planning & Potential - The site appears to offer residential development potential, subject to all necessary consents being obtained. Pre-application advice was sought from Tunbridge Wells Borough Council in March 2015.

As part of this ‘Pre-App’ plans were submitted showing a pair of large semi-detached 4 bedroom town houses over the ground and three upper floors. The proposal was flat roofed with a roof terrace, balconies and had a contemporary elevation design. The properties followed the existing building line on Cleveland and each property had 1 no. parking space to the front and a good sized private garden to the rear.

The ‘Pre-App’ was fairly positive with no objections to the principle of residential development and contemporary approach. However, there were a couple of concerns raised that will need careful consideration in any future planning application including retaining the boundary vegetation in order to respect the protected view/vista down Sandrock Road from Pembury Road; potentially reducing scheme to one unit to provide a better rear garden; seeking Highways advice about the parking and proximity of the access to the corner of Cleveland/Sandrock Road; and reducing the size/scale of the proposal to respect the Conservation Area setting.

It is recognised that the Principal Planning Officer’s view given in March 2015 may be out of date now given the length of time that has passed since this ‘Pre-App’.

Further Information - A copy of the of the Pre-App and the accompanying plans is available to download from our website at

Restrictions On The Title - There are some Restrictions on the Title and it is the vendors intention to take out a suitable transferable Indemnity Insurance Policy to cover these at the appropriate time.

Tenure - The site is to be sold on a freehold basis with vacant possession upon completion.

Services - Interested parties are advised to make their own enquiries with the relevant statutory authorities to ensure the availability and sufficient capacity at the site in order to service and drain the proposed development.

Vat - It is understood that VAT will not be applied to this transaction.

Viewing Arrangements - It is possible to see the whole site from the public highway. All viewings are undertaken at your own risk and no liability offer or given.

Vendors Legal Fees - We will require an undertaking that the purchaser will agree to pay the vendors legal fees up to £2,000 +VAT before terms are agreed and solicitors instructed.

Offers - Offers are sought for the freehold by way of Informal Tender with a closing date for initial offers is 12th July 2024.

The vendor would prefer an unconditional cash offer in the region of £300,000 but may be willing to consider a conditional (subject to planning permission) offer in the excess of £350,000.

Only offers in writing will be considered.

All offers MUST include details of any on-site due diligence that will be required prior to an exchange of contracts, an indication of your proposed development, your planning approach, an indication of your proposed timings with planning and the Contract and as well as evidence to demonstrate that funds are available to complete the transaction.

Depending on the outcome of the initial round of bids, the vendor reserves the right to seek a further round of best and final bids if it is deemed appropriate.

As a Regulated Industry under Money Laundering Regulations, RPC Land & New Homes will need to verify the identify of all purchasers of the site and this will be completed before Heads of Terms are issued to the preferred bidder.

The vendor is not obligated to accept the highest or any bid made.