Building new homes
A strategic priority
First Garden Cities Homes rents and sells homes in some of the most expensive areas across Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. There is a shortage of affordable housing and through our Corporate Strategy 22-27 we are committed to delivering affordable housing that meets a variety of needs across our target growth areas.
Our target areas for growth
Our latest Development Strategy 2024-2027 highlights a growth target of 370 new homes up to March 2027, consisting of a mix of Social Rent, Affordable Rent and Shared Ownership homes. The delivery of the homes will focus in our primary growth areas as follows (in green):
Stakeholder Engagement
We are committed to working with a range of stakeholders to help us realise our growth ambitions. This includes working closely with Local Authorities, Parish Councils, Homes England, developers, consultants and communities across our key operational area of Welwyn Hatfield, North Hertfordshire, and eastern Central Beds. Development opportunities in Stevenage and East Herts are considered on a case by case basis.
We aim to identify local housing need and to provide good quality homes that create places where people want to live and work.
Our partnership requirements
Our strategic aim is to deliver a balanced programme of rented homes (65%) and low-cost home ownership homes (35%) across:
- Developer led s106/planning gain opportunities
- Suitable package land and build opportunities
- Development on our own land
In terms of preferred lot size, we will consider the following:
- Developer led s106/planning gain – from 6 units upwards
- Package land and build – 20 to 50 units
In terms of typology, we will always prefer houses but will consider a blend of houses and low-rise apartments as part of a well thought out, sustainable development opportunity.
Ultimately, we are committed to working in effective partnership with a range of developers and contractors to help ensure the delivery of sustainable homes that achieve the highest possible design standards whist at the same time helping to keep residents energy costs low.
First Garden Cities Homes has the resources available to consider a wide range of partnership and growth opportunities. Therefore, if you have land for sale or are a developer that is interested in learning more about how we can assist you with your affordable homes then please get in touch with our Development Team today.
View our latest developments here. Development Team email: newhomes@fgch.co.uk