Regional builders picked for huge garden village scheme

Three regional builders have been selected to build out the first phase of a 6,000-home traditionally designed garden village in Hampshire being developed by the Buckland Group.

Housebuilders Thakeham, CG Fry & Son and Pye Homes are to build the first 600 homes of the development under a “partnership” model in which they will not be required to pay up front for the land.

The £2bn scheme, designed by traditionalist architect Ben Pentreath to match the Hampshire vernacular, is located near the town of Fareham on the edge of the south downs. The housebuilders are to start work on the homes from early next year, with the first residents earmarked to move in from the autumn.

Buckland said that community facilities including pubs and shops have already been provided, and the scheme will ultimately provide three primary schools, a secondary school, 20 nurseries, 13 playgrounds, 11 hectares of sports fields, 115,000 sq m of retail and business space and 84 hectares of parks and woodlands.

Thakeham, CG Fry and Pye Homes will only have to pay for the sites they build on when the homes are sold on to residents.

John Beresford, managing director of Buckland Development said Buckland will have a “share in the risk and reward with our chosen partners.”

He said the model meant “smaller, quality driven builders” were able to build schemes that would normally be reserved for volume builders. “We’ve designed a financial structure that enables the high-quality craft builder to construct on a large development such as Welborne,” he said. “This approach is groundbreaking and future residents of Welborne will reap the benefits for generations to come.”

Charlie Dugdale, head of development partnerships at Knight Frank, which represented Welborne Land in entering into the three partnerships, said the partnerships model also allowed the developer to retain control over the quality of delivery.

“We concluded that the long-term Welborne vision could not be guaranteed unless the landowner exerted real control through ongoing ownership,” he said.

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“Not only has the landowner become a ‘Master Developer’, but it is also now a housebuilder working in partnership with three regional SME builders. This means that the landowning entity will exert its custodial responsibilities on Welborne to ensure it becomes a place that engenders civic pride and is a great place to live.”

Rob Boughton, CEO of Thakeham, said: “We have an opportunity to build a generation-spanning, sustainable community, a great place to live, and create jobs and training opportunities in the housebuilding industry for local people. Welborne will create a legacy that we all can be proud of.”