TOWN and The Crown Estate have secured planning permission for a new neighbourhood of 75 homes in Leverstock Green to the east of Hemel Hempstead.
The two-hectare project at Westwick Row will comprise a co-housing community designed with its future residents and homes for rent, 30% of which will be affordable.
The co-housing element will include 31 homes arranged around a communal garden, with a common house at its centre providing a kitchen and dining room for shared meals, a living room, guest bedrooms and flexible spaces for everyday use.
The scheme also includes a suburban rental model with rents for the affordable homes linked to local incomes.
Designed by Periscope, Mole and Archio, the scheme will feature timber-framed, all-electric and highly insulated homes, with embodied carbon (A1–A5) targeted below 300kgCO2/sq m and projected operational energy use of 35kWh/sq m/yr, aligning with LETI 2030.
Rob Chesworth, head of strategic land at The Crown Estate, said: “New housing should do more than provide homes. It should bring people together and create a strong sense of community. At Westwick Row, discounted market rents, community-led cohousing and low-carbon construction will come together to create a neighbourhood shaped around the people who will live there, providing them with greater choice at different stages of life.
“By working with TOWN and future residents from the outset, we have been able to build innovative thinking into the development from the start. With planning now secured, our focus is on creating a thriving, sustainable neighbourhood for the future, and looking at how these models can be applied at a larger scale across the country.”
Guy Rochez, associate director at TOWN, added: “Securing planning permission for Westwick Row is an important step in bringing forward a different model of suburban development. Bringing together co-housing with a suburban rental model, we’re exploring how stronger communities and lower impact living can be delivered at a wider scale.”
