Newbury 'Old Town' - interview with Hugo Haig

Hugo Haig is director of Lochailort Investments. 

Just as one of his most significant schemes is unveiled, he gave us a preview and offered thoughts on the way forward in the latest Battle & Bunce Talking Property podcast.

 Old Town is the latest iteration of the redevelopment of the Kennet Centre in Newbury. Lochailort initially proposed Eagle Quarter which ran into opposition and was finally refused by West Berkshire Council on January 8 after five years.

 Now he has joined us to discuss Old Town, an entirely different approach to town centre regeneration.

 Rather than Eagle Quarter’s high rise mix of apartments with 27 units for independent retailers, Old Town is a low-rise mix of apartments, maisonettes and houses with just five new retail units.

 Mr Haig explains how courtyards and ironwork will be a key feature in a scheme of modern living in styles of a previous era, at the same times as recognising the iron works that once stood on the site.

 But he revealed that while Eagle Quarter is still up in the air, the scheme is still being pursued alongside Old Town.

 Lochailort built Reading’s first Build-to-Rent scheme, Thames Quarter, which has been a huge success and provided valuable experience of the BTR world.

 This podcast is an exclusive discussion with someone seeking to bring about major change in a traditional town.

The Battle & Bunce podcast Interviews the people making the headlines across key property markets of Reading, Oxford, Cambridge and west London, loosely labelled the 'The Golden Triangle'.

Additional notes and details can be found in the weekly journal The Forum published by UK Property Forums.

www.ukpropertyforums.com