Barratt and Persimmon to build 406 new homes and play areas on huge urban expansion in Northamptonshire
Approval has been given to build more than 400 new homes on the edge of a Northamptonshire town by the council.
West Northamptonshire Council’s (WNC) strategic planning members unanimously backed two separate planning applications on December 17, outlining proposals to deliver further residential neighbourhoods within the Towcester Vale sustainable urban extension (SUE).
The entire development, which lies to the south of the market town, was given outline permission in 2015 and will bring forward 2,750 homes in total. The newly approved 406 homes will be built on land at the bottom of the SUE, near Wood Burcotte.
Barratt Homes Northampton will be in charge of 160 homes and Persimmon Homes Midlands will take on the remaining 246. Both applications include areas of public open space within the housing developments and the larger parcel will also have an equipped play area for residents.
The proposed house types are a mixture of one to four-bed properties. Across both sites, there will be 38 affordable homes which amounts to just under 10 per cent of the total homes proposed. Disappointment was voiced by councillors at the meeting, who believed that there was not enough provision of affordable homes throughout Towcester Vale.
Cllr Ken Pritchard (Deanshanger, Cons) said it was “astounding” that no measures were set out in the development’s original legal agreement that would allow the council to reexamine developers’ profit margins and ask for the affordable homes requirement to be increased, if possible. Cllr Charles Manners (Silverstone, Cons) agreed, saying its lack of provision for review made the Section 106 contributions agreement sound “very poorly drafted”.
However, members were told by WNC officers that it was the position they were “stuck with” and that there was nothing they could do at this stage to add in a viability review.
Ultimately both applications were approved by the planning committee unanimously. Planning reports state that construction on the agreed homes is expected to start as early as the beginning of 2025.