Homes England goes to Town with Cambridgeshire co-housing plan

Homes England has appointed profit-with-purpose developer Town to deliver a co-housing community in Northstowe, Cambridgeshire. It has appointed Town to design a development parcel within the Northstowe masterplan – lies directly to the south of Northstowe’s future town centre.  The £3bn Northstowe masterplan is 10 miles north of Cambridge, and spans 1,300 acres with the potential to provide up to 10,000 homes. Earlier this year, the masterplan was mentioned in chancellor Rachel Reeves’ speech on the launch of a task force to “accelerate stalled housing sites”. Jonny Anstead, founding director at Town, said: “At Northstowe, we want to create a place where residents know and support their neighbours, and share spaces and resources to live more sustainably. “The benefits of co-housing are clear: it allows people to live happier, less isolated lives, fosters a real sense of community and enables residents to share resources and reduce their environmental impact.” He added: “And in delivering a new co-housing community here at Northstowe, our aim is to support Homes England in shaping a unique, thriving and diverse community with more sustainable ways of living at its heart.”  Matthew Brown, head of development at Homes England, added: “Homes England is committed to making Northstowe a vibrant and successful place. A key component of this will be to provide a diverse range of housing types and tenures. Building on our existing market and affordable Homes, co-housing will make a valuable contribution to this mix. “Appointing Town is a great next step in Northstowe’s journey, and we’ll be working to support the developer in bringing forward proposals for an exciting housing development which champions community at its core.” Image © Paper Films