Former agricultural land in Denbigh capable of accommodating 100 new homes will be sold off to a housing developer, boosting council coffers by more than £1m.

The land next to Ysgol Pendref primary school is owned by Denbighshire county council but deemed “surplus to requirements” according to a report going to its cabinet on Tuesday.

Cabinet agreed to delegate authority to approve the sale of the near seven acre site to lead member for finance, performance and strategic assets Julian Thompson-Hill.

All decisions on sales of assets which exceed £1m in value must be signed off by cabinet.

The land would see around 100 new homes built there said Cllr Thompson-Hill.

He said: “The proposal is this would be sold on the open market for affordable dwellings.

“Denbighshire county council would be looking for first refusal on those affordable units.

“Capital receipts would go to the housing revenue account, therefore there is an element of capital receipt that has been taken into account for the next round of new builds.”

The school sitting next to the site is on the list of those to be knocked down and rebuilt as part of the latest tranche of the 21st Century schools programme.

The report showed the field was allocated for residential development in the latest Local Development Plan (LDP) and housing development manager Mark Dixon said a stipulation would be added to any sale agreement that 20% of the homes built would have to be affordable housing.

Mr Dixon also said an analysis of the Denbigh area showed the affordable dwellings were needed to satisfy demand.

Cllr Rhys Thomas (Denbigh Lower ward) said new guidance published yesterday by Welsh Government suggested 47% of new developments should be affordable housing.

Cllr Gwyneth Kensler (Denbigh Central) asked who was looking at the infrastructure to support the deal, because of increased pressures on schools, doctors and other services.

She said: “Will all this development be taken into account when developing Ysgol Pendref?”

Cllr Huw Hilditch-Roberts, lead member for education, said the scoping for the new school had not been completed yet and he anticipated this would be taken into account.

Cllr Kensler also asked if the council would get a higher price for the land if it had planning permission.

Mr Dixon said that may be the case but with a site of this size the process of developing a planning application was “quite considerable” and said that aspect would be taken on by the developer.

He added: “Really at the end of the day you’re no better off (selling the land with planning permission).”