A HOUSING developer has been appointed to deliver the next phase of building at a landmark regeneration site in the north of Leicester.
Leicester City Council has selected Morris Homes as its development partner for the next parcel of housing development at Ashton Green – a major project to create a new neighbourhood of up to 3,000 homes, along with community facilities, green space and retail.
Morris Homes is one of the largest independently-owned house builders in the country and will deliver a new village centre with around 380 new homes, including 114 affordable homes, a supermarket, some smaller shops and attractive open space.
The city council has agreed to sell to Morris Homes 46-acres of land across two plots bordering Ashton Green Road.
This will be the third parcel of land developed for new housing at Ashton Green. Morris Homes was also the council’s development partner for the first phase of building, completing the construction of 100 new homes in late 2020. All these homes are now occupied.
The new homes will be contemporary in style, similar to the first phase, and will include a mix of three, four and five-bedroom family homes and two-bedroom apartments. The homes will meet the environmental standards for Ashton Green and will also incorporate well-designed landscaping with high ecological value and sustainable urban drainage.
Morris Homes aim to secure planning approval next year and will begin work on site in 2023, with the first of the new homes expected to be completed later that year.
City Mayor Peter Soulsby said: “Morris Homes were the first to commit to developing at Ashton Green. Their appointment to deliver a third phase of new house building, with much-needed affordable homes, will help maintain the momentum of this vital regeneration project.
“Appointing a development partner to deliver another 380 homes is an important milestone and represents significant further investment in our growing city.
“The ambitious programme of house building at Ashton Green is already making a valuable contribution to the number of new homes that are needed in Leicester – and it will ultimately contribute greatly to the economic prosperity of the city.
“Over the next five years, we expect to see developers invest an additional £150million at Ashton Green, and deliver more than 1,000 additional new and affordable homes.”
Mike Gaskell, Chief Executive of Morris Homes, said: “We at Morris are delighted to be partnering with the city council on this important next phase at Ashton Green which will provide much needed houses and facilities to the local community. We have an excellent working relationship with the council and our shared aim is to provide an exemplar development,”
Leicester City Council is the principal landowner and promoter of the Ashton Green development. It has already delivered substantial highway infrastructure improvements including new walking and cycling routes, traffic calming measures, new bus facilities at Beaumont Shopping Centre and major road building schemes.
Most recently, the city council led on the delivery of a series of new spine roads to help unlock a further 40 hectares of future housing development land at Ashton Green, backed by £10million of government funding from Homes England.
Construction of another 307 houses is already underway by Tilia Homes, which began work earlier this year.
Some 3,000 new homes are planned in total as part of the overall development of Ashton Green, and it is expected that 30 per cent of these will be affordable homes for rent or shared ownership.