South Cambridgeshire District Council has granted planning permission for a new neighbourhood at Northstowe that will bring two co-housing communities together in a mixed-tenure development.
The project is being delivered by a joint venture between TOWN and The Hill Group, working in partnership with Homes England as master developer for phases two and three of the new town.
Designed by Mole Architects, the development will deliver 145 homes across four compact urban buildings adjacent to the emerging town centre, with 40% of the homes affordable. The housing mix includes terrace houses, maisonettes and apartments ranging from one- to four-bedrooms.
The neighbourhood will accommodate Suvana Cohousing, a community grounded in Buddhist principles, alongside Northstowe Cohousing, a multi-generational group modelled on Marmalade Lane.
Jonny Anstead, director at TOWN, said: “Projects like this are still very rare in the UK. Opportunities to deliver co-housing at scale don’t come along often. What makes Northstowe particularly unusual is that we’re creating two co-housing communities side by side within a single neighbourhood. It’s also an important moment for our partnership with Hill. This is the first project from the joint venture to reach planning and it shows how community-focused housing can be delivered as part of mainstream development.”
Tom Hill, managing director of The Hill Group, added: “We’re pleased to reach this exciting milestone with planning granted for this unique development. Partnership working has been central to bringing these two co-housing communities to life and we look forward to starting on site and delivering high quality homes that foster community, sustainability and intergenerational living.”
Matthew Brown, head of large sites at Homes England, said: “Diversifying the housing offer at Northstowe is essential to accelerating delivery and creating a resilient new town. This scheme demonstrates how co-housing, affordable housing and high quality design can be brought together within a commercially viable development.”
