Portsmouth City Council is preparing to select a Master Developer for the City Centre North project following positive market engagement. The scheme aims to deliver over 900 new homes and green infrastructure in early phases.
A Cabinet report on 10 February 2026 outlines the next steps for the regeneration scheme after concluding a Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) process led by Mace, Montagu Evans and Vail Williams between May and October 2025.
The council will delegate authority to the Assistant Director of Property & Investment and Assistant Director of Procurement to procure a Master Developer partner and prepare a Development Management Services Agreement (DMSA). A further report seeking authority to enter into the DMSA will be presented to Cabinet in summer 2026.
Scheme details
The early phases of the City Centre North project are expected to deliver more than 900 homes, commercial space and improved public areas. The full masterplan, which received planning consent in 2023, maintains the council’s vision for up to 2,300 homes across the project’s lifetime.
The development will cover sites including the former Tricorn and Sainsbury’s locations in the northern part of the city centre. The scheme represents a strategic, multi-phase approach enabling short, medium and longer-term development.
Financial commitments
The council has incurred expenditure of £18.22 million to date as of 31 December 2025. This includes £10.88 million for land acquisition, £4.08 million for masterplanning work and £2.24 million in internal fees.
Progressing to the next phase requires estimated expenditure of approximately £2.3 million between January 2026 and March 2027. This will be funded from the £2.63 million remaining within the approved City Centre North Regeneration scheme funding, part of the total £20.85 million approved capital programme.
The scheme will require additional capital resources to fund outputs from the Master Developer stage and further land acquisition costs for later phases. A bid for further capital funding will be submitted as part of the council’s next capital bids process for 2027/28 to 2029/30.
Funding challenges
Early estimates suggest the delivery options are likely to result in considerable residual funding gaps for both early and longer-term phases. The Mace report notes this is “not uncommon” for comparable complex urban projects.
Homes England is expected to be the most likely funder of sufficient scale to contribute towards any funding gap. Additional opportunities may arise when the new Combined Authority is established.
To minimise funding gaps, the council and Master Developer partner will need to maximise external funding opportunities, optimise revenues from selling serviced land parcels and value engineer costs whilst maintaining the city centre vision.
City Centre Roads integration
The City Centre Road (CCR) project continues to progress alongside the masterplan development. This work will deliver new infrastructure, unlock land for regeneration by rerouting traffic away from Market Way and Commercial Road, and create enhanced public transport corridors.
The corridors will run east-west along Charlotte Street and Lake Road, and north-south along Commercial Road North. The council is supporting submission of the Strategic Outline Business Case for the City Centre Road project to the Department for Transport via the Major Road Network Fund.
Legal framework
The council has statutory powers to undertake the regeneration under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, Levelling-Up and Regeneration Act 2023, Local Government Act 1972 and Localism Act 2011.
The council can use Compulsory Purchase Orders under TCPA section 226 for land assembly. Recent reforms under the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Act 2023 enable exclusion of “hope value” from compensation, reducing costs and streamlining the process.
External legal support from Beven Brittan is being retained for the activities outlined in the report and next project phases.
Key points from the Cabinet report:
- The council received positive developer interest following Preliminary Market Engagement conducted between May and October 2025
- The scheme will be delivered through a Master Developer partnership model using a Development Management Services Agreement
- Early phases target delivery of 900+ homes and green infrastructure, with the full masterplan envisaging 2,300 homes
- Planning consent for the CCN masterplan was granted in 2023
- Total expenditure to date stands at £18.22 million, including £10.88 million for land acquisition
- The next phase requires approximately £2.3 million expenditure from January 2026 to March 2027
- Funding remains available within the £20.85 million approved capital programme
- Significant funding gaps are anticipated and will likely require external support, potentially from Homes England
- The City Centre Roads project is progressing in parallel to unlock regeneration sites and improve transport corridors
- A further Cabinet report will be presented in summer 2026 to authorise entering the DMSA with the selected Master Developer
