Regional housebuilder, Denbury Homes, has been granted planning permission for the first 174 homes at its new development in Bury St Edmunds.
The company has also announced St Edmunds Gate as the name for the flagship development which will create in the region of 900 new homes for the town. The name Abbots Vale will be retained for a southern neighbourhood of 363 homes, due to be developed by Denbury Homes’ former sister company, Hopkins Homes.
Permission for the first phase of residential homes to be delivered by Denbury Homes was granted at West Suffolk Council on 23rd May 2024. These homes will form the gateway to the development with the entrance off Rougham Hill.
Of the 174 homes approved under this announcement, 52 will be affordable. The collection will offer a range of homes in different styles and sizes including one- and two-bedroom apartments, two, three and four-bedroom homes in detached, terraced, coach and townhouse styles.
The Section 106 payments related to St Edmunds Gate will total in the region of £15.5 million and will be made by Denbury Homes upon the relevant triggers during the life of the development. These will be used to support the education, healthcare, libraries and highways infrastructure of the area. This figure is index-linked to inflation, so may vary.
Speaking of the approval, Joshua Hopkins, Land Director at Denbury Homes, said: “We’re delighted to have secured planning permission for the first phase of homes at St Edmunds Gate. This development forms the cornerstone of our growth plans for the next five years and so we are delighted to be taking the first steps towards bringing our vision to life.
“We believe that understanding local architecture and housing demand should underpin the way developments are planned. So our approach has always been to bring forward thoughtfully designed homes and developments that create a legacy of beautiful buildings and thriving communities.
“The homes we have selected for this first phase offer the opportunity for buyers at every stage of their housing journey to secure a home of their own – including through affordable housing schemes.
“We also understand how important it is to the new and existing community that adequate provision is made to support local education, health, and other infrastructure alongside the new homes. The allocation of the Section 106 payment is the responsibility of West Suffolk District Council, and we are looking forward to seeing the benefit that these payments make to the wider community.”
Denbury Homes was recently awarded a five-star rating by the Home Builders Federation for the second year in a row. This is based on customer responses to questions related to customer service and build quality.
Joshua continues: “The five-star rating from HBF is a fantastic accolade for the team, rewarding our efforts and tireless attention to detail – not only for the physical construction of the homes but for our customer care during and after the sale.”
Work on site has already started with the previously approved construction of the spine road, vehicular access to residential areas, urban drainage, flood compensation, landscaping and associated works on land south of Rougham Hill.
The company has a long history in the area having previously been known as Hopkins & Moore. Current developments include Witnesham, Debenham, Elmsett, Thurston and Clare in Suffolk and sites in Essex, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk.
Through the Denbury Charitable Fund, the company has so far given out over £1.6 million of grants and donations to groups and charities across East Anglia including to Access Community Trust to support their work at Linden House in Bury St Edmunds.
In line with Denbury Homes’ other developments, the homes at St Edmunds Gate are expected to be awarded energy performance certificate ratings of B confirming them as easier and cheaper to heat than comparable older properties. A range of resource efficiency measures including water conservation, air source heat pumps, and superior insulation will help them achieve a minimum 25% reduction in CO2 emissions against comparable older properties. The development will also offer several features such as swift bricks, sparrow terraces, bat boxes and buried invertebrate log piles to protect and enhance biodiversity. Denbury Homes expects to launch sales at St Edmunds Gate in early September, with the first show home opening in early 2025.
