Plans for a major development on land near Exeter Airport which could provide more than 1,400 new homes have been approved.
Housebuilder Persimmon has been given the green light by East Devon District Council for the scheme in Cranbrook, which it said would help deliver more than 400 new jobs..
As well as 1,435 properties, including a mix of houses and apartments, a new primary school offering 630 places, an SEN school, a local community centre, a place of worship and cemetery, plus leisure and recreation space are part of the proposals. Persimmon said 10 serviced pitches for the traveller community would also be provided.
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The company said it would transfer 215 properties at Cranbrook Cobdens to a social housing provider for rent and shared ownership, for the purposes of housing local people.
The firm’s South West managing director Daniel Heathcote said: “The development will provide a wide range of high-quality new homes designed for local people, especially young families and first-time buyers, who otherwise might struggle to get onto the housing ladder in Devon.
“Throughout the planning process for Cranbrook Cobdens, we have worked closely with officers and stakeholders at East Devon District Council to ensure that our homes are in keeping with – and enhance – the local area and its surroundings.”
It comes as Persimmon said it had seen demand from homebuyers continue to recover throughout the first quarter and into April, but revealed there was little respite from soaring build costs.
House prices have been falling as potential buyers deal with the soaring cost of living and spiking interest rates which make it more expensive for them to borrow money. But a recent easing back of mortgage rates after soaring in the wake of last autumn’s mini-Budget market turmoil has helped prices begin to edge back up.
Persimmon said its sales prices remained firm in the three months to March, up 10% year on year and 4% higher than in the previous quarter. The firm is continuing to offer incentives, running at around 3% on average.
The York-based developer said: “While the outlook remains uncertain, we are encouraged by the level of visitors to our sites and the normalisation of cancellation rates, which resulted in a steady improvement in sales rates across the period which has continued in early April. These early signs of increasing customer confidence are particularly evident in demand for our three, four and five-bed homes.”
The company added: “While interest remains good for all our homes, sales to first-time buyers remain more challenging, reflecting stretched affordability and reduced mortgage availability at higher loan-to-values, particularly in regions with higher house prices.”
Last September land firm Carden Group submitted plans for a huge new neighbourhood which could also provide more than 1,000 homes at Cranbrook, a new town in the county which has been steadily growing over the past decade.
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