Located on the site of the former RAF Oakington barracks, Northstowe will provide 10,000 new homes when completed. It will be the UK’s biggest new town since Milton Keynes.
Phase one is underway with around 140 homes already occupied and a new primary school open.
Phase two of the town, which is being led by Homes England, the government’s national housing agency, will focus on the development of the town centre and immediate surroundings, creating 3,500 new homes, including 1,000 town centre apartments.
40 per cent of the homes that will be part of this phase will be ‘Northstowe Starter Homes’ which will be designed to help young people get onto the housing ladder. A further 10 per cent of the new properties will be made available for affordable rent.
Work is already underway to create the transport links needed for the community, including a two and a half mile long access road, a bus‐only route through the site linking to the existing Cambridgeshire guided busway and the development of two large ponds which will be used to help with drainage on the site, as well as doubling as leisure and ecological hubs for the town.
Utility connections are being upgraded so that they can serve the whole town.
Phase two, which it’s hoped will be completed in 2030, will also develop town centre retail and office space, with the potential for small businesses and independent outlets to establish themselves in Northstowe.
There are plans for a new civic centre, which will house a new library and health centre as well as general community space. A new secondary school is due to open its doors in September 2019.
Mike Goulding, Head of Strategic Land for Homes England said: “We’ve been working really hard to ensure phase two is ready to be rolled out and now we’re looking forward to seeing this next stage of Northstowe start to take shape.
“The development will not only provide homes to meet the needs of people from across Cambridgeshire, but also offer a dynamic and easily accessible town centre where they can work, live and enjoy their leisure time.”
South Cambridgeshire District Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing, Cllr Hazel Smith, said: “It’s great that building work on phase two of Northstowe is underway. The bricks and mortar that we’ll start to see rise out of the ground over the coming years will provide much‐needed homes for thousands of families.
“A big chunk of all of the homes on phase two will be Northstowe Starter Homes, intended to help young people get onto the housing ladder. We've also ensured hundreds of properties will be available for affordable rent, and we're hoping to be able to provide affordable key worker housing in the town centre, too.
“We’ve been very clear that having local homes that are affordable for local families to live in is a priority, and it's good to see construction work officially starting on so many of them. Importantly, this phase of Northstowe will also see vital community facilities created, such as shops, a library and
health centre, so it will truly be a place where people will want to live.”