The South East
Hertfordshire Takes the Lead on Quality New Homes for Residents
The new government has announced plans for growth that is seeing a kickstart to housing schemes so new quality and affordable homes are needed. The Hertfordshire Growth Board (HGB) plan to tackle this with county-wide green developments.
From Harlow & Gilston Garden Town in the east to Hemel Garden Communities in the west, Hertfordshire is aiming to deliver 100,000 homes over the next decade and beyond.
Key housing development sites •
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Harlow & Gilston Garden Town – 24,000 new homes across seven villages with a new hospital and commercial sites.
Hemel Garden Communities – 11,000 new homes, local centres and health and lifestyle services.
Baldock – 3,000 new homes, two primary schools and a secondary school, plus a community centre and commercial spaces
Coopers Green, Hatfield – 2,000 new homes with commercial spaces. Brookfield Garden Village – 1,250 new homes
With reports nationwide of poor builds and inferior developments, the government’s draft National Planning Policy Framework proposes to achieve higher quality through national design coding and local design codes, as well as upgrades to building regulations. HGB is already making waves with its Development Quality Charter to ensure that developments in the county are high quality and sustainable.
The Development Quality Charter aims to achieve a new benchmark for high quality and sustainable development and it is hoped that housing associations, developers, landowners, and others will voluntarily sign the Charter and commit to achieving the pledges.
Our survey says…
The Growth Board surveyed over 4,300 residents in 2023 and when asked of their support of quality and affordable housing for all, a massive 81% responded in favour of the delivery of high quality, affordable and specialist homes, to support the county’s socio-economic prosperity.
In a 2023 survey by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), 55% thought older homes were better quality than new-builds, compared to 21% who thought new-builds were better. Almost a third (32%) described new-build housing as “poor quality”. It also found 33% of respondents had a “low level of trust” of housebuilders building new homes to a high standard.
But what’s in it for me?
Signatories of the Charter will be formally recognised on the Growth Board website. Achieving the charter’s pledges will be treated as a material consideration in the determination of planning applications. Once they are signed up developers can refer to the Charter and use the Charter Mark as part of their corporate promotional material.
Developments that comply with the Charter will be automatically put forward for the Hertfordshire Building Futures Awards. There will be a distinct award for schemes that comply with the Charter.
Cllr Jeremy Newmark, Chair of Hertfordshire Growth Board said: “Hertfordshire is already on the front-foot in delivering high-quality sustainable homes, with policies in place to work with developers in achieving better quality design builds. We encourage all developers to sign up to the Development Quality Charter to support this.”
Eleven organisations have already joined, and sign up is simple
St Albans - A Beautiful City to Live and Work
St Albans is a beautiful, vibrant Cathedral city set in a beautiful natural landscape. The District has lots
of
lovely parks and green spaces including Verulamium Park and Clarence Park in St Albans and Rothamsted Park in Harpenden.
There are also great transport links, being 22 minutes from London St Pancreas International, and close to the M1 and M25. We also have very good schools, a rich Medieval and Roman and history, a vibrant city with many independent shops (see here) and a wide range of excellent restaurants.
Our very rich cultural scene is underpinned by fine arts and leisure facilities, and there are many independent and community arts organisations and plenty going on. St Albans Museum and Gallery, and Verulamium Museum (with Roman mosaics and nearby the remains of the Roman Amphitheatre) are located in St Albans, as are The Alban Arena theatre and music venue, the Abbey Theatre, the independent and unique Odyssey Cinema (see here). And of course, we have the beautiful St Albans Cathedral, and the ancient and award winning Charter Market on Wednesdays and Saturdays, plus a range of other markets (vintage, farmers, vegan). In Harpenden we have the new Eric Morecambe Centre with its great programme of shows and comedy.
St Albans City Centre is the main shopping area, which
includes the Maltings Shopping Centre and Christopher Place. Harpenden, to the north of the City, also has a vibrant independent shopping scene. The City has a wide range of fantastic pubs, restaurants and other places to eat and socialise, and a vibrant night time economy.
Every year we have a wide range of festivals including the Alban Festival in June (giant puppets telling the story of Alban, Britain’s first saint, plus a street party and family entertainment), St Albans Food and Drink ‘Feastival’ in September, and Christmas in St Albans (where the Charter Market is extended in the run up to Christmas with lots of fabulous music and good cheer).
St Albans District has an important cluster of environmental businesses and organisations which include Rothamsted Research and the Building Research Establishment.
We also have a large number of professional services companies (lawyers, chartered surveyors, infrastructure experts, accountants, engineers and financial services professionals), and large
companies Premier Foods, Burton’s Biscuits and Skechers.
The Council has just completed Jubilee Square, a stunning mixed Grade A commercial and residential development, built on the site of a former police station and health centre, improving a key site in the city centre.
including Aecom,
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COMMERCIAL PROPERTY MONTHLY 2024
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