Tony Gallagher is reportedly mulling the £500m sale of a chunk of his property empire
A major Tory donor is reportedly mulling the £500m sale of a chunk of his property empire.
According to the Sunday Times, Oxfordshire-based Tony Gallagher is in advanced talks to sell Gallagher Estates to one of the UK’s largest housing associations.
Gallagher Estates buys residential sites, preparing them for development by securing planning permission before they are sold on to housebuilders.
A sale to London and Quadrant would come after the housing association last month completed its merger with East Thames.
That deal was initially planned to incorporate Hyde Group to create a housing giant, before Hyde pulled out last summer.
Separately, housing associations Peabody and Family Mosaic announced pleas to join forces last month.
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Gallagher, who lives close to former Prime Minister David Cameron in the village of Chipping Norton, has been a long term donor to the Conservatives, and hosted Cameron's 50th birthday party.
Neither Gallagher Estates nor London and Quadrant could be reached for comment.
The sale talks come ahead of the long-awaited publication of a housing white paper by communities secretary Sajid Javid.
The government has promised “radical” solutions to meeting the UK's housing needs.
Previously expected last year, the plans will build on reforms introduced by Javid in October, including £5bn of funding to support smaller developers.
The government is maintaining a target of building 1m new homes by 2020.