Housebuilder The Hill Group has launched a joint venture with cohousing specialist Town to scale up community-led residential development across the South and East of England.
The partnership will begin with a £50m project at Northstowe, a 150-home scheme in South Cambridgeshire backed by landowner Homes England. The development will include two cohousing communities, alongside a mix of private and affordable housing. A planning application is due to be submitted this summer.
The joint venture aims to deliver mixed-use, resident-led schemes over the next five years. It will focus on sites in London, the East of England, the South East and the South Midlands, where both companies have an established presence. The partners said they will prioritise resident input in the design process and long-term stewardship of homes and shared spaces.
Hill and Town plan to engage closely with public sector clients and legacy landowners to create developments that provide long-term social, environmental and financial value. Projects will be coordinated from design through to delivery.
Town has previously worked with Cambridge City Council, Landsec and The Crown Estate on schemes including the Hartree masterplan in Cambridge and the regeneration of Wolverton town centre with Milton Keynes City Council.
The new joint venture builds on Town’s Marmalade Lane cohousing scheme in Cambridge, completed in 2019. The project, which accommodates 100 residents, has won more than ten awards and continues to attract interest from prospective households.
Hill – 20th in last year’s CN100 ranking of top contractors – previously worked with Cambridge City Council to deliver a fully affordable scheme at Orchard Park, near Marmalade Lane.
Hill founder and chief executive Andy Hill said the joint venture marked the group’s first move into cohousing and would help expand its development pipeline.
Source: Hill Group press release